关注社会:中国剩女 在传统与变革中艰难寻爱

Xu Jiajie has gone on countless blind dates and to numerous match-making events over the past five years in search of a husband.

在过去5年中，许佳洁（音译）为找到好一位丈夫参加了无数次相亲和婚恋活动。

At 31, the baby-faced office worker from Shanghai is under enormous pressure from family and friends to get married. But the right man is hard to find, she says, a big issue for urban, educated and well-paid Chinese women in a society where the husband`s social status is traditionally above the wife`s.

这位来自上海的上班族虽然已经31岁，却还是一张娃娃脸。谈到结婚问题，她表示正处于亲友的巨大压力之下。但许小姐说，传统的中国家庭中，丈夫的社会地位要高于妻子。对于高教育程度、高收入的城市女性来说，找到合适的男人实在太难了。

"My parents have introduced every bachelor they know," said Xu, who earns double the average wage in Shanghai. "Half of the bachelors I met are quiet and never go out. Outgoing men don`t need blind dates."

许小姐的工资是上海市民平均收入的两倍，她说：“我的父母把他们认识的单身男子全都介绍给我，但在我见过面的单身汉中，有一半人十分内向，很少出门。常出门聚会的人不需要相亲。”

As couples celebrate the "Qixi" festival on Tuesday, the Chinese equivalent of Valentine`s Day, Xu and millions of women like her face stark choices as long-held ideas about matrimonial hierarchy run up against economic and social changes sweeping the world`s most populous country.

当一对对恋人周二欢度中国“七夕”情人节时，数以百万计的女性却和许小姐一样面临着艰难抉择。在这个全球人口最多的国家中，长久沿袭的婚姻等级制度正遭遇到席卷全国的经济社会剧变。

The term "shengnu" - directly translated as "leftover women" - was coined to refer to professional women who have not married by their late 20s.

社会上还流传着“剩女”一词，指的是那些将近30岁还没结婚的职业女性。

"Chinese people often think males should be higher in a relationship in every sense, including height, age, education and salary," Ni Lin, who hosts a popular match-making television show in Shanghai, told Reuters.

上海电视台著名相亲节目主持人倪琳告诉路透社记者：“中国人总认为在婚姻关系中，男性处处都要高女性一筹，包括身高、年龄、教育水平和工资收入。”

"This leads to a phenomenon in which A-grade men marry B-grade women, B-grade men marry C-grade women and C-grade men marry D-grade women. Only A-grade women and D-grade men can`t find partners."

“这导致一等男人娶二等女人，二等男人娶三等女人，三等男人娶四等女人，只有一等女人和四等男人没人要。”

In Beijing, more than a third of women in their late 20s and 30s are looking for husbands, according to the dating website . Media reports say there may be as many as 500,000 "leftover women" in the capital.

婚恋交友网站“世纪佳缘”称，北京市三十岁上下的女性中，有超过三分之一的人还没有男朋友。有媒体报道说北京的“剩女”可多达50万。

There are plenty of men to go round among China`s nearly 1.4 billion people but social status can conspire against single professional woman once again.

中国人口近14亿，想找个丈夫并不难，但考虑到社会地位，单身职业女性的选择就不那么多了。

China`s population is more tilted towards men than in many countries due to the government`s one-child policy and a cultural preference for boys. The latest census in 2011 showed there were twice as many single men born in the 1970s as women of the same age.

政府制定计划生育政策，中国文化传统又偏爱男孩，导致男性人口多于女性人口，男女比例之大比很多国家都严重。2011年的最新人口普查显示，20世纪70年代出生的同龄人中，单身男性的数量是单身女性的两倍。

But unlike "leftover women", these "shengnan" or "leftover men" often live in lower-tier cities and do not make much money.

但同“剩女”不一样，这些“剩男”往往住在二三线城市，挣的工资也不高。

The Shanghai city government tries to help women like Xu by arranging regular match-making events. One in May attracted 20,000 single men and women.

上海市政府定期举办相亲活动，帮助像许小姐一样的女性摆脱单身。曾有2万名单身男女参加了五月举办的婚博会。

Lucy Wang, a 32-year-old Chinese language teacher who attended the event, said all she could find were playboy types or momma`s boys.

露西·王是一名32岁的汉语教师，她参加了相亲活动后说，见到的男性不是花花公子就是那些过分依赖妈妈的乖儿子。

"I sometimes wonder if there is something wrong with me," she said. "Twenty thousand people and yet I can`t find anyone I like."

她说：“有时我都怀疑自己是不是有毛病，两万人中居然连一个我喜欢的人都找不到。”