

Only three percent of Shanghai singles would accept a partner from northern China, a survey by the Shanghai Matchmaking Association revealed yesterday.

The city’s bachelors and bachelorettes showed a clear preference for locals in the report covering nearly 2,000 singles aged 18-40. Close to 80 percent of respondents said they wanted to find romance with a fellow Shanghairen.

Nineteen percent said they would also be willing to date a foreigner or someone from Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan. When it came to their own compatriots from northern China, however, few would hear of it.

Northerners’ different living habits, culture and temperament—and preponderance to eat garlic—were cited by the singles as potential obstacles to courtship.



According to Hong Kong’s Ta Kung Pao, the survey also put to rest the myth of “leftover women”—a cohort highly educated, career-oriented women spurned by their male counterparts due to their personal success and high standards. Results found far more single men aged 18-40 than single women.

Apart from their provenance, careers were also an important factor shaping subjects’ love lives.

In the IT sector, over 60 percent said they had only had one or fewer romantic partners. Consultants proved the most romantically active of Shanghai workers, with over 80% having at least two previous partners.

By Ryan Kilpatrick

[Images via Ta Kung Pao]

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