Shanghai Marriage Market

Every Saturday and Sunday, between noon and five in the afternoon, regardless of the weather, the People's Park in Shanghai in China is crowded with parents of unmarried kids, who come to participate in the marriage market. On the walls of the avenues, hundreds of resumes and messages are hung by their parents, often without the knowledge of their children. On the resumes are written or printed the vital statistics of their offspring, the things that matter to the Chinese when seeking prospective brides or grooms for their children - height, age, income, education, Chinese zodiac sign, and whether they own a car or an apartment. The parents walk around chatting with other parents to see if there is a harmonious fit only after their children's standards are met. Shanghai marriage market is like online dating in a non-virtual setting, but some describe it as “a match.com meets farmers’ market”.