My sister took this picture on a recent trip to Shanghai. Someone explained to her that parents anxious for their children to find suitable partners place profiles in the park like this one for people to respond to.

I tried to zoom in on the pictures and I could make out the character for “woman” or “female” which appeared first in the text.

When it comes to sex and dating Chinese are still fairly conservative, but with the opening up of the economy Chinese society has changed along with it, freeing up attitudes to sex and marriage. People are marrying at a later age and some women are choosing to pursue a career over getting married. The one child policy is also creating an inequality in the sexes, as many families would prefer to have a son.

Older people’s attitudes haven’t changed as much and are keen to see their children to get married as soon as possible. It is not surprising that some are even willing to take matters into their own hands.