No wedding bells for rural young men
The spring festival holiday is always a busy time for matchmakers. But the success rate is quite low. China Youth Daily comments:
对媒人来说，春节是一个忙碌的季节。然而成果并不多。《中国青年报》如此评论：
The most difficult group for matchmakers is male farmers more than 30 years old. The unbalanced ratio of men to women in villages and their lack of means put them in a disadvantaged position in the competition for a wife.
对媒人来说，最难解决的群体就是30岁以上的男性农民。在村里存在着极大的男女比例不平衡，同时这些男人的财产成为了他们在娶妻时的劣势。
It is no surprise that some poor villages in the inland areas are filled with single men, as most local women have found better-off husbands elsewhere or they work in cities as migrant workers. Few women would like to marry poor men in the rural villages. This has been recognized as a social problem by many.
毫无疑问，内陆地区的一些贫困村里满是单身男子，因为大多数女性已经嫁给了其他村的富人，也有一些去到城市务工。很少有女性愿意嫁给农村的穷人。许多人认为这是一个社会问题。
According to tradition, the bridegroom is supposed to give a decent betrothal gift to his wife's family, and is also in charge of preparing a new home before the marriage, which can add up to hundreds of thousands of yuan even in some poverty-stricken regions where most locals lead a hand-to-mouth life.
根据传统，新郎要送给女方家庭像样的彩礼，同时要为结婚准备新房，这些准备加起来要用到数十万圆，甚至对于只能勉强维系生活的贫困地区也要花上这么多。
Even male migrant workers find it difficult to date their female co-workers, let alone female urban residents, because of their lack of an urban hukou, household registration, and the social welfare affiliated with it. Sometimes loneliness can be a catalyst for a short relationship, but it is usually not a catalyst for marriage.
甚至男性城市务工人员都很难与女同事约会，更不要提约那些城里的女性了，由于他们没有城市户口，享受不到很多社会福利。有时，孤独会成为一段短暂恋情的催化剂，但这段恋情往往不能延续到婚姻。
The marriage issue of the rural men deserves more attention from the government and social organizations, and greater efforts to transform outdated customs and traditions.
农村男性的婚姻问题值得政府和社会组织投入更多的关注，付诸行动去改变旧俗和传统观念。
