Source: OT-Team(G), El Confidencial
When Spanish reporters stepped into a matchmaking corner in Chongqing, they discovered a fascinating and unique tradition where parents display detailed profiles of their unmarried children—almost like a live dating app on paper.
Although Chongqing is best known for its subway that runs through a skyscraper, one can also witness this traditional matchmaking spectacle.
It's 11 a.m. on a summer Saturday in Chongqing, and a park near the People's Liberation Monument (Jiefangbei, in Chinese), right in the center of the city, is packed. It's not a protest, nor a group tai chi class. Although this megacity is best known for its metro that passes through a building, we are in the heart of another Asian curiosity: the singles market.
The multi-level park, like the city itself, hosts a weekly social ritual that is as fascinating as it is bewildering — where parents, grandparents, and even the singles themselves display their children like dating profiles, but on paper instead of on an app.
Around us, hundreds of people walk among laminated posters hung on strings or simply laid on the ground. Most of them include a photo, age, height, weight, education level, salary, zodiac sign, and marital status. Some even include extras: if the person owns a car, an apartment, or has promotion prospects.
"I am male, born in 1985, ox sign, 178 cm tall, 85 kilos, divorced, university graduate, with a salary close to 350,000 yuan, owner of two companies, two apartments, and a Mercedes-Benz," reads one of the signs.
There are also simple portfolios, framed photos, and even handwritten sheets describing the virtues of young candidates for marriage — all tagged with a reference number or QR code to facilitate contact. While many are just loose sheets to give a first impression, like Tinder on paper, there are also relatives physically holding signs and "promoting" their children to interested parties.
Such is the case of one mother advertising her son born in 1998, under the tiger sign, with a university degree and "monthly income of 5,000 yuan."
Most of the profiles are of young men, though some women are also featured. Chongqing — one of China's largest megacities — is brimming with contradictions. Just a few blocks from the futuristic skyline, this park offers an anthropological journey into tradition, the role of family, and the social pressure still imposed on young singles. Strikingly, many of them don't even know their personal details are circulating in this market.
Self-promotion by older singles
Though less common, there are also individuals who promote themselves, holding signs in person — like Mr. Liu, who describes himself as "a cheerful, energetic, and healthy Chinese medicine massage expert." This man, born in 1979, is looking for "a lady born in 1983, 1987, or 1990," specifically because his zodiac sign, the goat, is compatible with the pig, rabbit, and horse signs of those years.
On a staircase, older women sit and seemingly promote themselves, smiling at passing Western tourists. They enthusiastically point to their signs and try to interact — though the language barrier makes conversation difficult.
The spectacle is hypnotic in this park between Minzu and Wusi Streets. The entire singles market is like a human bulletin board, sustained by the nerves (and hopes) of a generation not physically present. Often, the intended marriage candidates aren't even there.
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