Briefs | Analyses n°10: Parental matchmaking in China

Briefs | Analyses n°10: Parental matchmaking in China

2021

Every weekend in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen or Guangzhou, middle-aged parents gather in parks to find a potential spouse for their college-educated children. These “matchmaking corners” thrive despite their apparent anachronism and their low efficiency. In the March issue of Briefs | Analyses, Peidong Sun, professor of History and spring 2021 Eurics fellow, explores this phenomenon and binds it to a whole generation’s collective anxieties created by the freedoms of marketization and the increasing individualization.