《文化对比阅读》(下) 4 Marriage 1 Chinas Singletons.docVIP

Chinas singletons turn to love instead of money as financial crisis bites David Eimer Professional Chinese women are being prompted by the world economic crisis to turn their minds to marriage instead of their careers, producing a boom in business for the countrys matchmaking agencies. Some matchmaking websites are reporting a 40 per cent jump in the number of middle-class women registering with them since last September, when global markets began to unravel. But, unlike the heroine of Bridget Jones’s Diary, China’s singletons are looking for security as much as they are seeking Mr. Right. After years of being single and concentrating on her career in advertising, 35-year-old Qin Yu signed up with a matchmaking agency in October. “My investments in the stock market dropped a lot and work hasnt been so busy since the financial crisis,〞 said Miss Qin, who owns an apartment in Hangzhou, a city on the east coast near Shanghai. “That made me depressed and I thought it was the right time to do something about my personal life.〞 She knows precisely what sort of man she wants and his looks are not important. “He needs to be someone who is responsible and takes care of his parents, three to eight years older than me with no children,〞 she said. “He has to have a stable job, like a schoolteacher. Thats my first priority. Usually, these kind of men are well-educated and dont have bad habits like drinking and smoking.〞 Miss Qin is typical of the career women who have been flocking to matchmaking agencies in recent months, according to Gong Haiyan, the CEO and founder of the Beijing-based Jiayuan, which with more than 17 million members is the largest matchmaking agency in China. “The economic crisis has made a lot of women panic. Theyve discovered that finances and careers can be unreliable,〞 said Mrs. Gong. There has been a 40 per cent increase in the number of women signing up with Jiayuan since the financial crisis took off last September. The majority are graduates earning