'Husband hunting' classes a hit with Shanghai singletons
Staff Reporter 2013-06-03 08:45
Hundreds of single men and women attend a dating event in Wuhan. (File photo/CFP)
During a recent matchmaking convention in Shanghai last month, over 10,000 single men and women came in the hope of finding their true love, with one Shanghai firm in particular catching the eye of many women who attended; it offered them the chance to sign up for a "husband hunting" training class, according to Modern Express, a Jiangsu-based daily.
Liang Yali, founder of a Shanghai-based consulting firm specializing in happy marriages, launched the premium and tailor-made courses for women to find the perfect husband in October 2009. In its first class, the company counseled 38 students, with 24 of the class later going on to get married within the year.
Liang's training program reportedly features four steps, which cover how to select the best partner, how to keep them interested, how to charm them, and finally the steps towards the wedding.
In explaining her theory, Liang likens a husband to a pair of well-fitting shoes that cannot be replaced easily once you know the size of your feet. A woman who travels from Hangzhou to Shanghai to attend the class every month said the class aims to root out erroneous concepts about love and marriage.
60% of the students are single women, with the remaining 40% comprised of divorced women. From its establishment in 2009, more than 160 of the students have married or found partners from China and overseas, the paper said.
"Many female students aged 35 or older have difficulty finding husbands near where they live but many are attracted to foreign men, who get more charming with age," said Liang, adding that a 35-year-old student of her class has recently wed the general manager of a German construction firm. Another student, who was looking for her second chance at love after a divorce, recently got married to a CEO of a British firm three months ago.
The cheapest course is estimated at 2,800 yuan (US$460), with students who pay 100,000 yuan (US$16,300) permitted to attend any course of the class at any time, the Modern Express said.
Liang said that the average age of her students has dropped over the past couple of years, with her youngest student this year being only 17.
