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Helping migrant workers find a girlfriend who will follow them
By Xu Wenwen |
May 9, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
MIGRANT workers face a host of problems - making a living in cities, fighting discrimination against countryside people and missing family and friends back home. They also have problems finding girlfriends and wives, boyfriends and husbands.
Many men (and women) have difficulty even meeting a suitable person.
So, last Sunday afternoon in Xixi Wetlands, a blind date party for migrant workers drew around 200 people from around the country, most of them working in Hangzhou and Shanghai. Their average age is under 25 years.
The party featured get-acquainted games and communication sessions.
It was co-sponsored by daguu.com, a Shanghai-based migrant worker-targeted recruitment and social network website, and jiayuan.com, one of China's leading dating websites.
"Running the website makes us realize that migrant workers have not only material needs but also spiritual needs, and that includes looking for a relationship," says Wei Zimin, public relations manager of Daguu.com.
Migrant workers, whose jobs are mostly blue-collar, have difficulties finding a girlfriend or boyfriend who will become their spouse, mostly because of their limited work range, current location and hometown, Wei says.
In explanation, he says many manufacturers have a workforce that's overwhelmingly male or overwhelmingly female. Further, many migrants migrants, despite the location of their work, prefer to find someone whose hometown is not far from his or her own.
Hou Liteng, 23, from Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, is a driver for a construction company in Jiangxi Province and says he has never had a girlfriend because there are too few women working at his cmpany.
"My circle of aquaintances is small and all about work, and chance to find a girlfriend in my company is small," Hou says, adding his coworkers face the same problem.
Hou prefers a hometown girlfriend who also works in Jiangxi, however, most women in his hometown don't want to marry local men but prefer husbands from more developed places, such as Wuxi and Suzhou in Jiangsu Province.
So his second option is to find a woman who can follow him "anywhere" he goes as a migrant.
"Willing to follow me to other places" was listed by male migrants at the dating party as their most important requirement for a future wife. A big board at the entrance to the party lists desirable qualities in a prospective spouse, husband and wife.
According to a survey of more than 80,000 respondents released by Jiayuan.com in February, men consider women's appearance less important when he does not have a high income and educational background. Women regard a man's earnings as most important when she does not have a good income or educational background, the survey suggests.
Typically, men want pretty women and women want men who will provide security for them and their children.
Young out-of-town women at the party listed "good career" and "permanent urban residence certificate" as their top priorities in a man.
Early marriage
Despite lacking experience in relationsips, many participants indicated they are willing to get married at an early age.
"I am considered 'old' among women in my hometown who are not married or engaged," 19-year-old Qin Chen tells Shanghai Daily.
Qin from Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, has been working as a secretary in a Hangzhou cosmetics company for two years. "I intend to get married in couple of years and I prefer that he comes from my hometown or is a Hangzhou local," says Qin, who was wearing a specially bought party dress.
Qin is under pressure from her parents to marry, so in recent months she has been busy on Jiayuan.com trying to find a blind date.
In her hometown people usually get married before the age of 25, while in the countryside some get married before age 20.
China's legal age for marriage is 20 for women and 22 for men, but in the countryside many people get married before the legal age, and get the marriage license when they are of age.
Many migrants from rural areas are caught in a dilemma. On the one hand people are supposed to get married in their early 20s, but on the other hand a new generation of migrants has more education and sophistication than their parents - and a broader vision and higher expectations about their future.
"I didn't want to be pushed by my parents, and that's why I waited until I was 26 to marry, but I still got divorced," says Liu Qiancai, 35, the oldest participant at the dating party. In his hometown people generally get married when they are around 18 years old.
"People get married early because of family pressure, however, young people do not yet know exactly what they need in a spouse, so they take an attitude of 'so be it,' which makes a happy marriage a totally random occurrence," Liu says.
A 26-year-old migrant from Jaingxi Province is an example.
"I just want a woman younger than me. Requirement? Uh ... her hometown should not be too far from my hometown. Other requirements? No, nothing more," the man surnamed Lai tells Shanghai Daily.
He is one of the older party goers, but still doesn't know what kind of person he needs in a marriage.
"I see the divorce rate increasing every year," Liu Qianci says. "As a divorced person, I always suggest young people think twice before getting married."
China's Ministry of Civil Affairs reports that in 2011 more than 2.11 million couples divorced, compared with 1.21 million in 2000. In some parts of the country the divorce rate is higher in suburban and rural areas than in urban areas.
Many men (and women) have difficulty even meeting a suitable person.
So, last Sunday afternoon in Xixi Wetlands, a blind date party for migrant workers drew around 200 people from around the country, most of them working in Hangzhou and Shanghai. Their average age is under 25 years.
The party featured get-acquainted games and communication sessions.
It was co-sponsored by daguu.com, a Shanghai-based migrant worker-targeted recruitment and social network website, and jiayuan.com, one of China's leading dating websites.
"Running the website makes us realize that migrant workers have not only material needs but also spiritual needs, and that includes looking for a relationship," says Wei Zimin, public relations manager of Daguu.com.
Migrant workers, whose jobs are mostly blue-collar, have difficulties finding a girlfriend or boyfriend who will become their spouse, mostly because of their limited work range, current location and hometown, Wei says.
In explanation, he says many manufacturers have a workforce that's overwhelmingly male or overwhelmingly female. Further, many migrants migrants, despite the location of their work, prefer to find someone whose hometown is not far from his or her own.
Hou Liteng, 23, from Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, is a driver for a construction company in Jiangxi Province and says he has never had a girlfriend because there are too few women working at his cmpany.
"My circle of aquaintances is small and all about work, and chance to find a girlfriend in my company is small," Hou says, adding his coworkers face the same problem.
Hou prefers a hometown girlfriend who also works in Jiangxi, however, most women in his hometown don't want to marry local men but prefer husbands from more developed places, such as Wuxi and Suzhou in Jiangsu Province.
So his second option is to find a woman who can follow him "anywhere" he goes as a migrant.
"Willing to follow me to other places" was listed by male migrants at the dating party as their most important requirement for a future wife. A big board at the entrance to the party lists desirable qualities in a prospective spouse, husband and wife.
According to a survey of more than 80,000 respondents released by Jiayuan.com in February, men consider women's appearance less important when he does not have a high income and educational background. Women regard a man's earnings as most important when she does not have a good income or educational background, the survey suggests.
Typically, men want pretty women and women want men who will provide security for them and their children.
Young out-of-town women at the party listed "good career" and "permanent urban residence certificate" as their top priorities in a man.
Early marriage
Despite lacking experience in relationsips, many participants indicated they are willing to get married at an early age.
"I am considered 'old' among women in my hometown who are not married or engaged," 19-year-old Qin Chen tells Shanghai Daily.
Qin from Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, has been working as a secretary in a Hangzhou cosmetics company for two years. "I intend to get married in couple of years and I prefer that he comes from my hometown or is a Hangzhou local," says Qin, who was wearing a specially bought party dress.
Qin is under pressure from her parents to marry, so in recent months she has been busy on Jiayuan.com trying to find a blind date.
In her hometown people usually get married before the age of 25, while in the countryside some get married before age 20.
China's legal age for marriage is 20 for women and 22 for men, but in the countryside many people get married before the legal age, and get the marriage license when they are of age.
Many migrants from rural areas are caught in a dilemma. On the one hand people are supposed to get married in their early 20s, but on the other hand a new generation of migrants has more education and sophistication than their parents - and a broader vision and higher expectations about their future.
"I didn't want to be pushed by my parents, and that's why I waited until I was 26 to marry, but I still got divorced," says Liu Qiancai, 35, the oldest participant at the dating party. In his hometown people generally get married when they are around 18 years old.
"People get married early because of family pressure, however, young people do not yet know exactly what they need in a spouse, so they take an attitude of 'so be it,' which makes a happy marriage a totally random occurrence," Liu says.
A 26-year-old migrant from Jaingxi Province is an example.
"I just want a woman younger than me. Requirement? Uh ... her hometown should not be too far from my hometown. Other requirements? No, nothing more," the man surnamed Lai tells Shanghai Daily.
He is one of the older party goers, but still doesn't know what kind of person he needs in a marriage.
"I see the divorce rate increasing every year," Liu Qianci says. "As a divorced person, I always suggest young people think twice before getting married."
China's Ministry of Civil Affairs reports that in 2011 more than 2.11 million couples divorced, compared with 1.21 million in 2000. In some parts of the country the divorce rate is higher in suburban and rural areas than in urban areas.
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