China

China’s population is currently just over 1.4 billion and with an estimated 180 million single people and a tradition that demands marriage, a substantial dating market has emerged. Love and Sex in China takes us to the singles fairs and matchmaking expos that have become commonplace and where parents often attend to distribute photos of their marriage-eligible children. To be considered marriage-worthy, men need to be financially stable and women need to be under the age of 27 or face life being categorized as “the leftover”. Seventy per cent of Chinese women say they would never marry a man who didn’t have his own property. But with rents being exorbitantly high, most Chinese men can’t afford that option. This has led to the re-emergence of concubines — women who, to meet their needs, are turning to life as an expensive mistress to wealthy men. In return, the concubines need to be entirely available at all times to attend to the whims of their “protectors”.