Did you have this kind of experience that your parents arranged someone to meet with you and let you think if he or she is suitable for you to marry? I’m not sure if you think it is unbelievable, but a lot of my friends have experienced it or are going to experience it.
In China, there is an unwritten rule that if the girl is about 27 or more (it is even younger before), then she is called “the left old lady”. Men are over 30 will also be urged to get married. Otherwise they are very unfilial to still be alone.
One of my colleagues recently faced this situation. She is 27 and has no boyfriend yet. She is the eldest child of the family. Her parents heard there was a nice young man who will return to their hometown in a few days and want her to attend the blind date to see if they are matched for each other. She doesn’t want to do that. While her parents persuade her that she is the eldest child and she
is better to go back to her hometown to stay with her parents, then she can take care of them in the future. Finally, she has to give up and agree to meet the man. So she has to resign and go back to her hometown because her parents thought the young man she is going to date has very good prospects. They are hoping to see them get married soon.
This is not unique here. I have another good friend who is the same age as me. My son is 6 years old, while he has no girlfriend yet. So we are worried about him too, not only his parents and relatives. But as you know, nowadays, the girls all want to marry a man who has an apartment, or maybe also has a car, at least has some deposit in the bank. They want to live a more wealthy life without working too hard, especially if they are beautiful. So more and more girls/women are fastidious about how they choose a boyfriend.
More and more men have to strive for more money and being successful. Then the days pass by and the age they get married is put off until later and later. The parents get worried about their child, so they ask for their friend and relatives to help to introduce someone to their elder son or daughter.
Another common reason that they are too late to know a boyfriend or a girlfriend is they are too busy working and have a small range of friends to find a suitable mate. They seldom have the chance to know a lot of friends and meet face to face.
There are some people who place their hopes in the internet and sign up on dating websites. Sites that set up unmarried people looking to marry are very popular today. Parents even help their children to sign up and ask their son/daughter to attend unmarried party or arrange the blind date for them. I don’t know if it happens in the other countries, but the chances are few to know someone face to face here.