Guangdong tops China's singlehood chart: survey

BEIJING - Southern China's Guangdong province is home to the country's largest population of singles, accounting for 11 percent of the total singles in the country, according to the Yangcheng Evening News on Monday.

Guangdong also has the largest number of single men, the report said, quoting a survey the matchmaking webiste baihe.com.

The survey attributed Guangdong-based males' difficulty in finding the other half to their fast pace of life and devotion to wealth.

Oddly enough, a study by another matchmaking website Jiayuan.com said their male members from Guangdong are also the group that has the highest chance of success in finding a girlfriend, compared to members from other regions.

The study attributed Guangdong men's charm to their wealth and mild character.

Another survey conducted by Zhenai.com, a matchmaking website that claims to have 60 million members, showed that singlehood is growing in more of China's second-tier cities. The ratio of unmarried men to women has reached 100 to 74.3 in Shenzhen, a city in Guangdong province, making the city the "capital" for unattached men.

Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan province, has become the "capital" for unattached women, even though the city is famed for its beautiful women, according to the survey.

Journalism was ranked the number one singles profession, with 4.8 percent of those in the industry remaining single, followed by advertising and public relations, the survey revealed.

China's sixth nationwide census in 2010 shows that the ratio of unmarried men to women was 136 to 100 for those born after 1980, and for those born after 1970, the ratio was as high as 206 to 100.

Chinese who have not paired off celebrate "Singles Day" annually on Nov 11, and the holiday has increased in popularity and is accompanied by an online shopping frenzy.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group took in 10 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) in the first six hours of promotions, which started at midnight on Monday.

"The popularity of Singles Day among young Chinese reveals the hardships of being in love and getting married," said Tao Wenzhao, a professor with the Renmin University of China.