Randy Olson, Melissa Farlow Photography

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People stop to read profiles of prospective partners that are posted on walls and trees. Singles try to find partners at an event in an amusement park sponsored by a web site (www.juedui100.com). There are so many postings that they have to be changed every few hours.

The president of the company, says that she counsels folks about going for love over stability but no one listens. She says they all want to find someone with a good job, a house, and a car before worrying about loving them or not.

Even with this counseling, there is a surreal scene where young singles get up on an AstroTurf stage and recite their particulars: "My name is John, I am 28 years old and I have a condo with two bedrooms. I make X amount of money a year, and I have a 2006 Volkswagen golf with a garage."

This is backed up by a China Daily report: "If you’re a single male living in Beijing, you need to make a mental note of this figure: 1,068,000. No, it’s not the lottery payoff you dream you’ll win next week. It’s the number of yuan you’ll need to shell out to get married. It’s going to take you exactly 12 years to save the sum on the condition that you don’t spend a penny on food, lodging or anything else."

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RANDY OLSON
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Contained in galleries
China's Bling Dynasty_National Geographic Magazine 5/2008
People stop to read profiles of prospective partners that are posted on walls and trees. Singles try to find partners at an event in an amusement park sponsored by a web site (www.juedui100.com). There are so many postings that they have to be changed every few hours. <br /> <br /> The president of the company, says that she counsels folks about going for love over stability but no one listens. She says they all want to find someone with a good job, a house, and a car before worrying about loving them or not. <br /> <br /> Even with this counseling, there is a surreal scene where young singles get up on an AstroTurf stage and recite their particulars: "My name is John, I am 28 years old and I have a condo with two bedrooms. I make X amount of money a year, and I have a 2006 Volkswagen golf with a garage."<br /> <br /> This is backed up by a China Daily report: "If you’re a single male living in Beijing, you need to make a mental note of this figure: 1,068,000. No, it’s not the lottery payoff you dream you’ll win next week. It’s the number of yuan you’ll need to shell out to get married. It’s going to take you exactly 12 years to save the sum on the condition that you don’t spend a penny on food, lodging or anything else."