

Inside one of Beijing’s busiest subway stations, an unusual advertisement is catching commuters’ attention. The ad pleads:

“Dear father and mother, don’t worry. The world is so big. There are so many different ways to live. A person don’t have to be married to be happy.”



It is the work of a group of young people who have just about had it with the intense pressure applied on them by their elders to hurry up and get married. They are paying 38,000 yuan for some prime ad space to finally get their message out.



Of course, tis the season when pressure runs highest for unfortunate singles as parents expect them to return home for Spring Festival with the person they will spend the rest of their life with. Sometimes, desperate singles have been known to rent a boyfriend/girlfriend, paying a high price to avoid the embarrassment. Other times, well it just doesn’t work out.



But no more, they say! Xinhua reports that 33-year-old Han Degan’s parents have been trying to get him hitched since he turned 25.

“Growing up, I was never on the same page with my parents when it comes to marriage,” Han said. “Back in high school, my parents told me not to have a girlfriend. But after I graduated from college, they suddenly became anxious about me not seeing anyone.”

Despite the gender gap, the pressure can be even more intense for single women of a certain age, known as “leftover women,” that age seems to get lower and lower each year.



Hopefully, somebody sees it before it gets taken down.

[Images via NetEase]

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