China faces a gender imbalance problem. (Photo : Getty Images)
China's one-child policy has brought about numerous problems for the country not only in terms of the massive gap in the working age population but also in the balance of genders.
The now-obsolete one-child policy in the Middle Kingdom caused a lot of trouble for the proud nation's population as the Chinese-having only one chance to bear a successor during the implementation of the population control policy-cultivated a gender preference they now regret.
The Bachelor Village
Unlike most males, Chinese men are not clinging to their bachelor life and are even hoping to change their single status to something else.
This is particularly true in the rural Laoya village in the eastern province of Anhui in China which BBC News so aptly dubbed as the "bachelor village."
In Laoya, which literally translates to "Old Duck," men like Xiong are considered a "bare branch" or men who are single, unmarried, or a bachelor.
Among the most eligible bachelors in the village is Xiong Jigen, a 43-year-old countryside man who has yet to find a wife.
Like him, 40-year-old farmer Duan Biansheng only has a simple wish to be able to enjoy his life.
"I don't have any requirements at all. I would be satisfied with just a wife," he told The Guardian in 2011.
Duan is worried that if he is not able to find a wife soon, he will age alone, with no one to care for him.
According to BBC, men in China are expected to marry and start a family when they reach their twenties. Unfortunately for Xiong and the others who live in the "bachelor's village," women are a rarity in their place.
"It's isolated and the transportation is very difficult," Xiong explained, adding that because of the limited opportunities in the place, women are migrating to other areas.
"I cannot find a wife, they migrate to somewhere else to work, then how can I find someone to marry?" he said.
Duan also explained that the few women born in their community decide to leave the village because they see a better life outside.
"Even though there are girls from this village, and we grew up together, they know they can have a better life outside," he explained.
Possible Solution
Speaking with state broadcaster CCTV, local official Xiong Shouqing revealed the statistics behind this problem: "At the worst time, nearly, 40% of men in our village can't find a wife."
According to him, there is a way of bringing back women into their lives if only to help the bachelors of Laoya village get over the hopelessness of being alone.
"Tourism can be a prosperous industry. If we develop rural tourism, the villagers may become richer. It may be helpful to solve the problem," Xiong told the outlet.
