Marry me (please...?)

Marry Me Please[?]

A woman holding up a sign during a matchmaking event in Jinshan beach. The Shanghai city government tries to help professional unmarried women by arranging regular matchmaking events. Media reports say there may be as many as 500,000 “leftover women” in Beijing. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

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Text and photos by Reuters

COUPLES celebrated the Qixi festival on Tuesday, the Chinese equivalent of Valentine's Day, but millions of single women in the world's most populous country face stark choices as long-held ideas about matrimonial hierarchy run up against economic and social changes.

The term shengnu - literally "leftover women" - was coined to refer to professional women who have not married by their late 20s.

"Chinese people often think males should be higher in a relationship in every sense, including height, age, education and salary," said Ni Lin, who hosts a popular matchmaking television show in Shanghai.

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20130817#sthash.vFplBexN.dpuf