Rural wedding ceremony in Shaanxi Province. (Photo : Getty Images)
The National Health and Family Planning Commission released a report stating that Chinese couples are now more interested in lightning marriages.
In a survey of 77,045 Chinese respondents, 58 percent believe that couples should only date for 11 months before marriage. There are some who believe that the dating period should be shorter.
Wang Hai (pseudonym), a professional in Beijing, and Zhang Ning, an orthodontist, decided to get married after only dating for a few weeks.
"He told me that he believed the length of time two people know each other does not improve the chances of having a successful marriage," she said.
"Then he looked at me and asked if I would marry him. I said yes, I would, and four days later, we obtained a marriage license," she said.
The Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau revealed that 45.2 percent of people who are born from 1980 to 1992 were married in a rush.
Many believe that lightning marriages are more popular with "leftovers," or people who are in their thirties and still have not settled down.
Based on the observation of Chen Zhilin, a relationship counselor who got his PhD in Psychology at the University College London, lightning marriages occur because of job-related stress.
Chen believes that people who are career go-getters usually are hyper at work. These people do not feel the need to marry until the urge kicks in.
"They see it more as a pooling of resources, with each bringing their own advantages to the relationship, rather than as a match based purely on emotional attachment," Chen said. "So, once they find a suitable match, they would tie the knot even if they have only known each other for a short time."
