More than 300 women are vying to tie the knot with one of 11 super rich men in a contest that takes the dating game to a whole new level.
A single men’s club in Guangzhou picked the contestants from 2,800 applicants using a vigorous screening process that included everything from psychological tests to face-reading to plastic surgery exams to make sure the women have not enhanced their looks, the Yancheng Evening News reported yesterday.
The club will whittle down the 320 contestants - ranging from a beauty queen to white-collar professionals - in 10 events across the county that started on Sunday at The Garden Hotel in Guangzhou. They will have to meet exacting standards from the billionaires. One man is even demanding a virgin.
The men being offered up for betrothal each claim to have at least 100 million yuan (HK$122 million) and represent industries including clothing, property, finance and chemicals manufacturing. The richest one claims to be worth more than 10 billion yuan.
Organiser Li Zhuo told the newspaper that the tycoons had to try harder to find the right partner. Otherwise, they might end up taking mistresses or wind up with children who were rebellious or showed off their wealth.
“We are engaged in selecting excellent wives for entrepreneurs and high-quality mothers for the affluent second-generation in a professional way,” Li said.
The contestants are aged between 19 and 56 and hail from places as far afield as Australia and Singapore. The club aims to select 28 finalists to mingle with the bachelors at a two-day matchmaking event next month.
The contest comes amid a debate over a growing focus on material wealth on the mainland. The central government has greatly restricted primetime entertainment after a dating show craze that drew international headlines in 2010 when one young female contestant dismissed a suitor by saying she would “rather cry in a BMW than laugh on a bicycle”.
Although not televised, this latest contest appears to raise similar issues. The richest contestant, who has been described as a well-known entrepreneur, divorced and in his 40s, offered the club 5 million yuan to find him the perfect wife.
Aside from his specific demands on age, weight and appearance, he also wants a virgin.
The club has offered 50,000 yuan to anyone who recommends a woman that the bachelor ends up taking out on a date. If a relationship develops, the man has promised the referee a 3 million yuan apartment.
One contestant said she thought she was applying for a normal dating party and did not realise the bachelors were wealthy. However, she said it was understandable that rich men would use such a forum to find brides. “This is the way the rich people do things,” she said. “If I were that rich, I would choose among the applicants also.”
Some contestants said they did not think they were too materialistic. They said they were an only child in their family and they needed more money to help their parents.
Wen He, a Guangzhou marriage consultant, said seeking wives through a contest was a game for the rich, but wealth could not guarantee a happy marriage.
Professor Ji Yingchun, a sociologist on family studies at the University of North Carolina, said the contest showed the trend of commercialisation of women on the mainland. As women could not get proportionate rewards from their work, some of them pursued what they wanted through marriage.
1 comment:
Tycoons seek wives in dating contest
Sally Wang
22 May 2012
More than 300 women are vying to tie the knot with one of 11 super rich men in a contest that takes the dating game to a whole new level.
A single men’s club in Guangzhou picked the contestants from 2,800 applicants using a vigorous screening process that included everything from psychological tests to face-reading to plastic surgery exams to make sure the women have not enhanced their looks, the Yancheng Evening News reported yesterday.
The club will whittle down the 320 contestants - ranging from a beauty queen to white-collar professionals - in 10 events across the county that started on Sunday at The Garden Hotel in Guangzhou. They will have to meet exacting standards from the billionaires. One man is even demanding a virgin.
The men being offered up for betrothal each claim to have at least 100 million yuan (HK$122 million) and represent industries including clothing, property, finance and chemicals manufacturing. The richest one claims to be worth more than 10 billion yuan.
Organiser Li Zhuo told the newspaper that the tycoons had to try harder to find the right partner. Otherwise, they might end up taking mistresses or wind up with children who were rebellious or showed off their wealth.
“We are engaged in selecting excellent wives for entrepreneurs and high-quality mothers for the affluent second-generation in a professional way,” Li said.
The contestants are aged between 19 and 56 and hail from places as far afield as Australia and Singapore. The club aims to select 28 finalists to mingle with the bachelors at a two-day matchmaking event next month.
The contest comes amid a debate over a growing focus on material wealth on the mainland. The central government has greatly restricted primetime entertainment after a dating show craze that drew international headlines in 2010 when one young female contestant dismissed a suitor by saying she would “rather cry in a BMW than laugh on a bicycle”.
Although not televised, this latest contest appears to raise similar issues. The richest contestant, who has been described as a well-known entrepreneur, divorced and in his 40s, offered the club 5 million yuan to find him the perfect wife.
Aside from his specific demands on age, weight and appearance, he also wants a virgin.
The club has offered 50,000 yuan to anyone who recommends a woman that the bachelor ends up taking out on a date. If a relationship develops, the man has promised the referee a 3 million yuan apartment.
One contestant said she thought she was applying for a normal dating party and did not realise the bachelors were wealthy. However, she said it was understandable that rich men would use such a forum to find brides. “This is the way the rich people do things,” she said. “If I were that rich, I would choose among the applicants also.”
Some contestants said they did not think they were too materialistic. They said they were an only child in their family and they needed more money to help their parents.
Wen He, a Guangzhou marriage consultant, said seeking wives through a contest was a game for the rich, but wealth could not guarantee a happy marriage.
Professor Ji Yingchun, a sociologist on family studies at the University of North Carolina, said the contest showed the trend of commercialisation of women on the mainland. As women could not get proportionate rewards from their work, some of them pursued what they wanted through marriage.
Post a Comment