A dating platform matches high earners who have everything—except love
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One work day in October of 2020, I was fighting drowsiness at my desk when my friend Liu Can messaged me on WeChat. She sent me a sign-up form for a speed-dating event, and asked if I wanted to go with her.
I initially wanted to decline, but wavered at the memory of my mother on the phone, nagging me to get married. In a few months, I was turning 30. Even though I hadn’t given marriage any serious thought, I always felt a sense of guilt when I visited home and faced my parents’ anxiety and disappointment.
I forced out a “sure.”
Liu Can sent a celebratory emoji and urged me to fill out the application as soon as possible. She emphasized, “Under education, you absolutely must put your graduate school.”
“I got my master’s degree on the job. Should I indicate this?” I asked.
“No need to overdo it. A prestigious education is a basic expectation in this kind of ‘elite’ dating pool.” She forwarded me the event poster, which laid out some requirements for attendees.
Must fulfill at least two of the following:
- Degree from an elite school
- Overseas experience
- Prestigious job
- Annual salary of above 300,000 RMB for men, 200,000 RMB for women
- Homeowner
- Career in IT or finance for men; teaching, medicine, or civil service for women.
I submitted the form without much confidence, expecting the organizers would take a while to verify my credentials. To my surprise, not three minutes passed before the system notified me, “Application approved, please submit payment.”
Still feeling skeptical, I paid the 130-yuan event fee and added the organizer on WeChat.
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Swipe High: Inside Shanghai’s Elite Speed-Dating World is a story from our issue, “Upstaged.” To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine.
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