A spate of Chinese films, plays and television shows have recently raised the question:
What is love in an age of breakneck economic growth?
Many personal stories seem to confirm that the ideal mate is the one who can deliver a home and a car, among other things; sentiment is secondary.
However widespread this mercantilist spirit, not everyone thinks it is a good thing.
Many Chinese were shocked this year when a female contestant on a popular TV dating show, “If You Are the One,” announced:
“I’d rather cry in a BMW than smile on a bicycle.”
But others insisted that the contestant, Ma Nuo, now popularly known as “the BMW woman,” was merely expressing a social reality.
Rocketing property prices in recent years have contributed to such feelings,
with many people in Beijing and other cities accepting the idea that a woman will pursue a relationship with a man only if he already owns an apartment.
Feng Yuan, a 26-year-old who works in a government education company, tried to set up a friend with a man she thought suitable.
“When she heard he didn’t own an apartment, she refused even to meet him,” recalled Ms. Feng.
“She said, ‘What’s the point? Without an apartment, love isn’t possible.”’
Read more detail about this topic at Economy Watch
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