The More We Know's video: China s Leftover Women Stay Single Feel Lonely

Statistics show that there are 800,000 unmarried 30-plus-year-old women in China. They have a lot of things in common: good looking, good education and high income. And they are often forced by their concerned parents to take part in blind-dating parties. This population group has won a nickname, "Sheng nu" or "leftover woman". Not only their parents are worried about their marriage but also the women themselves feel pressure from society. Li Jing, 30, is a research assistant in a university in Beijing. As she says, she has been pushed to face the problems she never thought of when she was in her twenties. When someone talks about "women above the average age for marriage" or the "elderly parturient women", she will have an illusion that she is one of the targets of their comments, Li said. "I don't dare to go shopping, especially on festivals or important dates, because I feel bitter at seeing couples in the street. So I will ask myself: why am I still a single, why is there no Mr. Right for me, who can give me a shoulder to lean against, say some sweet words to me, or offer me a gift?" said Li Jing. Similar to Li Jing, Yang Xiting, a high-salaried woman in Shanghai, often feels "lonely". "Yes, it is a weeper question. I have lots of pressure because nobody helps me when I move from one place to another," said Yang. Yang said that at present she is hungry for a partner in her life who will support her and fight for a better future with her. However, the leftover women still have some stringent requirements in paring off, especially in big cities where home prices have been skyrocketing for a decade. "He must be more than 1.80 meters tall, and have an apartment with no mortgage," said a single woman. Obviously not all the bachelors in the country were born rich, and a majority of them are not confident in front of such women. "I think, in the first place, they are very well educated. Then they are very capable. Third, they are strong-willed," said Wang Zhixin, a bachelor who has been refused several times in blind dates. Marriage consultant Zhou Xiaopeng said that well-matched personal values are important in choosing a spouse. "I always advocate value matching in my consulting, and it refers to similar personal values and similar ways of thinking and treating friends, family members and jobs," said Zhou Xiaopeng, a counselor of a marriage website. "If they are not matched, they cannot live with each other and there will be more and more fractions between the couple, causing a high rate of divorce," Zhou added.