October 22nd till 25th, I was in Shanghai to attend a wedding, and meet up with some friends. Although I did not spend a lot of time exploring the city, which I have visited before, of course, in passing, I made the occasional photo.
For instance of this scene in Renmin Park: a large gathering of mainly middle-aged people was peering at notes hanging from the bushes, lining the footpaths, and suspended from makeshift “washing lines”. As it turned out, each note was singing the praises of some young Chinese man or woman…sometimes accompanied by a photo. Their character, their education, their length, their skills were all listed.

What I had encountered was a giant matchmaking market, where parents, professional matchmakers and grandparents go in search of a partner for their child, client or grandchild. Supposedly, many young Chinese are too busy studying or working, to have time to meet a prospective partner and woo them. Or they are too shy. So some parents use this kind of gathering to search for prospective partners for their children.
It lacks somewhat in the romance department, and I wonder how often it works out.

> click on images above and below to enlarge