One applicant is filling forms
Interview
Posing for photographs
Money can't buy you love – but in one city in Guangdong Province it can get you an introduction to beautiful, well-educated single women.
Eight high-rolling bachelors in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen, bordering Hong Kong, have each paid 36,800 yuan ($5,390) in the hope of finding a wife in a matchmaking competition, Guangzhou Daily reported Monday.
The men – aged 28-45, willing to marry, and with more than 10 million yuan in assets – will meet 15 women picked from a pool of 2,000 applicants for their looks and level of education, said the newspaper.
Zhang Guoyu, the organizer of the dating masterminded by a matchmaking website, said the men were "too busy working" and had no time to look for love the old-fashioned way.
"Although the men may have met some women after their heart, these women would usually be their business partners who seldom care about relationship," Zhang said.
The women – who paid nothing for the chance to meet Mr Right – include university students, graduates and business owners.
Female applicants had to give answers to "several hundred" questions about levels of their income as well as their attitude to love and life before being selected to meet the eight bachelors.
In a country with a considerable gender imbalance in favor of males, one male blind date contest entrant said that he reckoned the entry fee was a small price to pay for a chance of love.
"Matchmaking allows you to focus your attention for a few hours to carefully select the one you are fond of," he said.
"It's worth more than 30,000 yuan if you can find one."
Global Times/Agencies
