Beijing park life offers a respite from urban growth. (Photo : Getty Images)
The Ministry of Civil Affairs recently released statistics showing that there are more than 200 million single adults in China in 2015. This number is still rising and make experts predict that the number will usher a "single boom" in the country.
The increasing number of unmarried people is more apparent in metropolitan and urbanized cities based on a report released by zhenai.com.
The cities that have the most number of single people are Beijing, Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, Shanghai, Guangzhou in Guangdong Province and Chengdu in Sichuan Province.
According to Lisa Zhao, a 30-year-old professional in Beijing, "First-tier cities are much more tolerant for singles, and I feel more free living alone here. I can find many friends around that remain single at my age."
She added: "It's totally a different life pace and attitude. I can sense a big gap in people's mentality between Beijing and my hometown."
For men, "bachelorism," or males preferring to be single, is also on the rise. The trend shows that most of these unmarried males prefer women in their 20s.
"I think women in their late 20s are more attractive, and they are more mature and capable of dealing with their work and personal life," said Rock Li, 29, a finance consultant in Beijing.
A national media agency that focuses on young people, youth.cn, reported that 36.8 percent of single Chinese females think that life without marriage can be equally satisfying.
However, statistics from zhenai.com indicated that women and men are single by force, not by choice.
The site also revealed that only 7.85 percent of those singles are happy living alone.
Li said that singles "dislike people who chase after them, yet they like people who are too good for them."
The Chinese government is also intolerant of single mothers. Children who are born illegitimately are not given a hukou or birth registration.
On Sina Weibo, one user said that if the Chinese government removed heavy penalties on unmarried mothers, "single women with an education and a high income should immigrate to another country."
