Beijing Part 4, Day 3 (cont’d)

June 13, 2014 by Let's CUT the Crap! 127 Comments

We wandered to another part of the park where parents laid out their child’s ‘resume’ hoping for a marriage connection / partner. A woman yelled at me when I tried to take a picture. Seems it’s bad luck to be photographed. I understood it puts a pox on the intended. I laid low and managed a non-intrusive video on my iPad mini but I cannot upload it. Sorry.

Spring in all its glory

Interesting nuggets about marriage:

• Either you pay for a matchmaker ($$$ if you have lots—probably not) or your mother struggles along in your best interests with or without your knowledge
• We encountered children in the park, but the majority were boys—yes there were girls—the odds appeared greater than the statistics
• The ratio: 140 boys are born to 100 girls nowadays
• Dating services are now common and do a vigorous business, but many cannot afford them and anyway MOM has your best interests at heart
• Young people pursue good careers and work long hours with lengthy travel times to and from work
• There is no time to date
• More and more young people prefer to find their own mate
• Some young men hold down several jobs and still cannot afford a house or apartment
•  Every potential bride wants a house or apartment. As well her family expects a bride price—even in the country—a sort of dowry
• Mismatches between city vs. country / education vs. job level mean less chance of finding a marriageable partner
• Stories abound about established career women. A female with a good job may be willing to stand in as breadwinners if even a younger male would co-operate. After all, her clock is ticking, but without a job of his own, he’ll shy away.
• Rich men spent much time and money choosing the right bride through matchmakers since the ratio of females versus males are so uneven

Wikipedia Commons

More tidbits about the people:

• Diabetes and high blood pressure high
• Exercises morning and evening, especially seniors
• China is second highest consumer of sugar after India
• They add sugar to everything
• Different breakfast by area / region
• Average man’s breakfast is in Beijing: steamed dumplings and buns, dim sum, and soup
• Use straw to drink soup
• Mandarin is the main official language
• Written language is the same everyone in China, only the dialects are different

Next on June 20^th, Beijing Part 5, Day 3 (cont’d)

1. Temple of Heaven
2. Tiananmen Square