A funny thing happened at the marriage market...

I had heard rumblings of Shanghai's "marriage market" for months now, and have been waiting anxiously to check it out. Held on weekends in People's Park (the city's Central Park, but smaller), I didn't think we'd see anything last Thursday when we were out wandering about. To my delight, we exited the People's Square subway station to find about a dozen fathers and mothers sitting on the edges of planters with their child's stats written on an 11x14 sheet of paper in a plastic protector taped to an open umbrella. Chinese characters were combined with numbers that no doubt revealed date of birth and height.  

I rounded the corner to find the international section, filled with requests for non-Chinese spouses, or perhaps indicating sons or daughters with international experience. Besides age and height, descriptions (in very poor English) included the son's or daughter's educational background and profession, and criteria for their potential mate (must own apartment and/or car, and steady job, that sort of thing). What a sight!   

I had heard that the parents aren't too keen on photographers so I walked away from my mom and Mike to slyly snap some pics with my iPhone. All of a sudden, an older gentleman in round spectacles and a newspaper boy hat (stylin', I should say) ran up to me and asked, "Where are you from? Where are you from?" I was so startled, and enchanted by the marriage market, I didn't know how to react but to smile. "Where are you from?" he asked again, probably because he didn't know any other English. I tried to show him my ring finger, but he was so close to me (the Chinese aren't big on personal space) I couldn't move my arm. I finally managed to say, in Chinese, "America. This is my husband," pointing to Mike. At that point, he realized I wasn't there to shop, only to observe, and let us go our way. It may not have been the two camels and five goats I had been offered in Morocco a few years back, but it was charming nonetheless and fed my ego for the rest of the day. And don't worry, I remind Mike of my desirability whenever necessary.