China's Lunar New Year is a time when young single Chinese citizens travel home to meet their parents and family members who have only one question: "When will you get married already?!" 

The demands of the parents are clashing with young Chinese people who are increasingly delaying marriage; there are around 200 million single adults in China, more than the populations of Germany, the UK, and France combined. In light of this trend, Chinese media have proclaimed China is facing the so-called, “Fourth Wave of Singledom".

Go on a shopping trip on a Saturday afternoon in downtown Beijing, and you might find something unexpected being offered. Around 200 young men and women are making their way to a restricted area as the details of the latest arrivals flash across a big screen. The DJ is warming up the turntables, and then there’s salsa. Welcome to speed dating, Chinese style. 

Mass speed dating events are just one example that illustrate the social pressure to get married in China. Over three in five men and more than four in five women are now getting married later in life, the Chinese Marriage Status Report in 2015, a joint study by Peking University and China’s largest dating website, Baihe, has revealed. While times are changing, and so-called late marriages are becoming the norm, the pressure to seal the deal is still growing. Young Chinese are becoming increasingly anxious about being branded a “left-over”.

One driving factor of the increased pressure are Chinese parents. Worried about losing face in their social circle, they will take active measures to try and get their children hitched. One approach is trying to find a partner for their offspring at one of China’s infamous marriage markets. 

“It’s a changing society, so for the old generation they have a very formulaic type of life, what is good and what is bad. But that’s not the case for the new generation. So there’s quite a lot of conflicts,” says Professor Chak Wong of the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology and author of a book on the economics of love and marriage.

In the face of this generational clash and the immense pressure to bring home a partner, young Chinese singles have found different strategies to appease their parents. One option is to rent a fake boy or girlfriend online. Entire websites have sprung up with the sole purpose of putting people looking for someone to pose as their partner in touch with those offering such services. 

Others are meeting the challenge head-on. One group of people trying to get parents to rethink their stance is the “Anti-Marriage Pressure Union”. They caught the public eye with an advertisement posted in the Beijing subway last year. The advertisement addressed the parents directly, telling them not to worry. “Singles can lead a happy life, too.”  

The ad is a first attempt to narrow the generational gap. The fact is, Chinese youngsters are marrying later. Now the main issue is getting their parents to embrace their choice.‍

Rediscovering China is a feature program broadcasted every weekend on CGTN. Each 30-minute edition offers a unique insight, through the eyes of our team of international journalists, into an aspect of life in China today. With its unrivaled access to the country's people and places, Rediscovering China brings you in-depth reports on the major issues facing China at a time of rapid change.