A Chinese Love Connection...?

My husband, Lars, and I went on a walk a couple months ago. Nanjing is so big and we’ve never taken the opportunity to just meander. Usually we are on scheduled outings to specific places. So we don’t get to see…everything else.

As we walked it was mostly the number of parks or just scenic sections that caught my eye. I’m a sucker for beauty and when I see it I usually reach for my camera, knowing full well that a camera never really captures the true loveliness.

As I admired these moments we came upon a sidewalk that was just lined, both sides, with hundreds of these 8 ½ x 11 inch boards/cards. On the right side these cards were colored pink with flowers 

and on the left the cards were blue with butterflies. 

I’ve seen something similar before and it turned out that it would just represent a butterfly or flower that you could buy, but these seem different. For one thing, they have a lot more Chinese written on them…

Once Lars takes a moment to look them over he hesitantly says that he thinks they are date cards. I was confused. I ask him what he means by “date cards”. So he tells me what’s written on them: A person's name, birthday, height, education, family background, hobbies, interests, accomplishments, number of times they’ve been married, if they have any children and what they are looking for in a spouse.  REALLY? Oh and don't forget, at the bottom is the phone number to call if you "interested" in this person.  

Now you may think, "That's not a big deal. Seems similar to our Internet dating sites", (you must understand that even with how fast China is excelling I still see people sweeping the sidewalks with homemade brooms of reeds and bamboo.)

But if you take a look at these pictures, these aren't children looking for dates and potential mates. These are parent's looking for potential daughter- or son-in-laws!

When I asked a Chinese friend about it they said, as naturally as if I asked her why she wears a coat in the winter, that Chinese men and women in their 20's are so busy with their education and/or career that they just don’t have the time to look for “the one” so they let their parents help...

It’s like an optional arranged marriage…? 

I had to laugh to myself because most people I know of marriageable age in America would just DIE if their parents ever tried to "set them up" on a date. 

But really? Would it be that bad? You pick a "candidate" from the Packet 'O' Potentials that your parents have already approved...Seems like everyone's happy... :)

Spring