“女，1985年生，身高163cm，肤白，另一半需在浦西有房，不小于80平米，月收入不低于15000元，本科学历，身高170cm以上。只接受鼠、狗、猪属相者。”“Female, 1985, 163 cm, pale complexion. Candidates must own Puxi apartment with at least 80 m, minimum monthly salary of 15,000 yuan, university educated, 170 cm+. Rats, dogs and pigs only!”“男，1980年生，身高1.65m，上海户口，MBA，高管，有房有车。希望寻得属羊配偶。愿意供养女方父母。”Male, 1980, 1.65 m, Shanghai hukou, MBA degree, upper management, owns apartment and automobile. Prefer sheep. Will provide for in-laws.穿过人民公园这成排的征婚广告，犹如在市场里选择最适合的“交易”。上海股市让有些股民大赚，但前阵子也经历过大跌。相比于惊心动魄的股市，相亲市场的风险会不会更小？为儿女寻亲的父母都希望为子女未来的生活做最好的投资。Walking down the aisles of ads which every weekend adorn a shady section of People's Park, the city's largest matchmaking exchange, quotes listing demands and assets seem more like equity financing for families. Welcome to the Shanghai marriage market, where local parents come to trade futures - the futures of their single children.
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老人为37岁的单身女儿找对象。Elderly man seeks spouse for unwed 37-year-old woman.
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父母纷纷在征婚布告墙上添上子女的信息。For a fee, parents can hang printed placards on the Great Wall of Singles.
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这位母亲等待着合适的人问津她的孩子。Mother awaits suitors for her adult child in Shanghai's most desperate district.
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婚姻中介收集着老人手中儿女的个人资料，资料备案是要收费的。Marriage brokers charge a fee for access to their hand-compiled databases.
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老人们在公园里逗留很久，生怕错过了合适的人选。Parents and pensioners scrutinize the latest offspring IPO at People's Park.
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单身的老外们在相亲市场也很抢手！Single foreigners are a hot commodity at Shanghai's matchmaking exchange.
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这位父亲想嫁掉他23岁的女儿，不过给女婿开出的条件似乎很高呢。Father hopes to marry off his 23-year-old daughter but has a strict bride price for prospective spouses.
"Who can fill 15,000 on 30?""I've got 10 even on 35!"This isn't open outcry from the trading pit of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, which earlier this month topped the 5,000 level for the first time in nearly eight years, but the bids and offerings are just as furious.Welcome to the Shanghai marriage market, where local parents come to trade futures - the futures of their single children.However it is desperation, not speculation, that is driving this rally. With the worrying trend of Chinese millennials going unmarried due to demanding careers, as well as a large number of the so-called shengnü (literally "leftover") women who prefer financial independence to matrimonial codependency, parents have become rightly concerned about the looming margin calls of their family lineage.But in the avaricious spirit of this city, even with the threat of their family trees becoming bare branches, Shanghainese parents insist on nothing but the best for their children - and perhaps a high rate of return for their own retirements as well.Walking down the aisles of ads which every weekend adorn a shady section of People's Park, the city's largest matchmaking exchange, quotes listing demands and assets seem more like equity financing for families. Offering a diversified range of spouse options across all classes, the contracts are primarily asset-backed - love is not on the uptick in this hive of high-net worth.Female, 1985, 163 cm, pale complexion. Candidates must own Puxi apartment with at least 80 m, minimum monthly salary of 15,000 yuan ($2,415), university educated, 170 cm+. Rats, dogs and pigs only!Male, 1980, 1.65 m, Shanghai hukou, MBA degree, upper management, owns apartment and automobile. Prefer sheep. Will provide for in-laws.The park's front gate, however, is a frenzied pit of economic courtship, with meddling mothers issuing shares in their own offspring. While the rest of the world's exchanges have gone electronic, the Shanghai market is clinging to thousands of years of tradition with old-fashioned face-to-face floor trading.Here some irrationally exuberant aunties are arguing the valuation of a 30-year-old woman's initial public offering; there a young male working in the tech sector is trading eight times his earnings; over there…"You don't have my permission to take a photo!" a middle-aged woman suddenly shouts above the outcry at the Global Times. Moments before she was conducting an over-the-counter exchange with a marriage broker to find a suitable partner for her daughter, a small-cap shengnü."Do you have her permission?" I smirk, pointing at the placard of her daughter's image and vital statistics. Most of these parents are here without their children's consent; call it Arranged Marriage v2.0. A crowd of onlookers erupts into laughter; even the woman can't suppress a self-conscious smile.Recommendation: the Shanghai Composite Index might currently be a raging ox among global analysts, but for long-term upside potential with less volatility, reallocate to Shanghai's marriage market.Getting therePeople's Square metro station, exit 9. Every Saturday and Sunday. Opening bell at dawn, closing bell at dusk. Trading volume is heaviest between 3-5 pm.Photos: Tom Carter/GT
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