Beijing: Part 4

February 3, 2017 by Let's CUT the Crap! 29 Comments

Image Courtesy of Sally Cronin

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.

                                                      Spring in all its glory

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. However, I copied a frame from the video. Note the sheets on the ground.

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

                                     Image courtesy of 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

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Next on February 10th: Beijing Part 5 (and more photos)

1. Temple of Heaven
2. Tiananmen Square

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© 2017 Tess @ How the Cookie Crumbles

FYI: This is a re-blog of the best parts of my trip in 2014.