In China, many students entering college have seldom, if ever, dated. Throughout high school, they face pressure from parents to study hard and get accepted to the good university. This in turn has led to the growth of dating websites and independent dating courses to teach many young people a skill they lack. Well, one Chinese university has built such a dating course into their curriculum. CGTN's Wei Lynn Tang takes us to class on this. 

Different colored scarves symbolizing the sacrifices and benefits of a marriage.

Undergraduate students from various majors take turns expressing themselves via this thought-provoking process.

They also discuss and write down what these sacrifices are.

For the male, it's mostly the loss of personal space and money; and the female - their looks and health.

This class, geared toward marriage, comes near the end of a 14-week interdisciplinary course entitled "Art of Getting Along with the Opposite Sex".

HOU SHUFEN, LOGISTICS UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT SOUTHWEST JIAOTONG UNIVERSITY "In this class, the boys shared their views on changes they may encounter from dating up until marriage. We don't often understand this as girls, because we wouldn't usually ask the opposite sex this. So this is an eye-opener for me and may be a great help to us in the future."

In the early parts of this inaugural course, students learn how to make a good first impression, meet the right person, and date.

Gao Fei, the course's founder and teacher, has two aims: to help narrow the gap between knowledge and practice, and to better prepare -- than repair -- these students for what's to come in their future.

GAO FEI, COURSE FOUNDER & TEACHER SOUTHWEST JIAOTONG UNIVERSITY "The divorce rate in China has been increasing over the past 5 to 8 years; and most of those divorced were born in the mid to late 80s and even the 90s. Analysis shows this is due to one's pursuit of individual freedom. A huge part is also because they don't know the source of pain when challenges in a marriage occur, so they feel it's better to just change partners. But if this mindset is not changed, even changing a partner is futile."

And for some students, it's more than just a dating and marriage elective. This engineering major says this course is necessary. He cites the lack of communication skills most university students face as they focus too much on their academics. JI ZESEN, ENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT SOUTHWEST JIAOTONG UNIVERSITY "If we can manage to get along with the opposite sex, I believe we can also communicate better with the elderly, strangers, and people of the same sex. These skills are useful in life. For example, I have now learned to put myself in the shoes of another, to be more considerate and seek to understand the other better." WEI LYNN TANG CHENGDU "In China, huge importance is placed on education: nailing good grades, getting into good schools. Except these days, it isn't all about just maths and science. It's also about learning social techniques, like the class about dating & marriage here at this university. And it all starts from equipping these students with soft skills, real life expectations to hopefully better maneuver today's societal problems and beyond. Wei Lynn Tang, CGTN, Chengdu."