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‘Leftover Woman’ Spends 16000¥ For Dating Site, Still Single

A 41-year-old woman who spent over 16000¥ (±2500 US$) in service fees to a matchmaking company is still single. She is now suing the company.

Manya Koetse

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A 41-year-old woman who spent over 16000 Chinese yuan (±2500 US$) in service fees to a matchmaking company is still single. She is now suing the company.

A woman called ‘Mrs. Wang’ (alias) spent 16000 yuan to become a member of a Beijing matchmaking company. Mrs. Wang says the company only arranged two dates for her, after which they did not introduce her to any other men. Since she feels the company has breached their agreement, she took the issue to court.

Wang first came to the matchmaking company in October of 2013 to find a suitable partner. She paid 10,000¥ (about 1560 US$) in service fees and wrote down no other requirements for her possible match than ‘unmarried’ and ‘undergraduate education level’. Nevertheless, the matchmaking company seemed to have trouble finding a right match for her, and advised Wang to pay another 6000 Chinese yuan in fees to give her an upgrade to ‘VIP member’. If she would not agree, there would be no other men to introduce her to.

Although Wang paid the money, no other dates were arranged for her. The dating company’s manager said that because of her age, it was difficult to find a divorced or unmarried man (Sina News: “我这个年龄要找离异未育的或者未婚的,不好找”).

The news was reported by several Chinese media outlets, such as 365 News and Sina News, referring to the woman as a “leftover woman” (剩女) in their headlines.

Single women older than 27 are often defined as “leftover women” in Chinese media. Although there are around 20 million more men under 30 than women under 30 (Fincher 2014, 4), there is still a general conception that women over 30 are “too old” to get married (also read our article: “50% of Chinese Men Think Single Women Aged 25 Are ‘Leftovers“).

63b2e4940440c83b389833abeff4ec71Actress Liu Ruoying (Weibo). 

Earlier this year, Taiwanese actress Liu Ruoying published a book about finding love after 41. Liu (1970) was once known as the “representative of the older leftover women” (大龄剩女代表). She is now, as she says, “a happy wife and mother”. Her book is called “Dare To Be Lonely In Someone Else’s Arms”.

This morning, Wang and the Beijing dating company reached a settlement in the court of Chaoyang (Beijing). Wang would not get her membership money back, but was returned the 6000¥ (940 US$) she had paid to become a ‘VIP member’.

By Manya Koetse

References

Fincher, Leta Hong. 2014. Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China. London & New York: Zed Books.

©2015 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

Manya Koetse is the founder and editor-in-chief of whatsonweibo.com. She is a writer, public speaker, and researcher (Sinologist, MPhil) on social trends, digital developments, and new media in an ever-changing China, with a focus on Chinese society, pop culture, and gender issues. She shares her love for hotpot on hotpotambassador.com. Contact at manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.

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China Brands, Marketing & Consumers

Tsingtao Brewery ‘Pee-Gate’: Factory Worker Caught Urinating in Raw Material Warehouse

The pee incident, that occurred at a subsidiary Tsingtao Beer factory, has caused concerns among consumers.

Manya Koetse

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A video that has circulated on Chinese social media since October 19 shows how an alleged worker at a Tsingtao Beer factory climbs over a wall at the raw material production site and starts to urinate.

The incident reportedly occurred at the Tsingtao Beer Factory No. 3, a subsidiary of the Tsingtao Brewing Company, located in Qingdao, Shandong.

After the video went viral, the Tsingtao Brewery Company issued a statement that they took the incident very seriously and immediately report it to the authorities, who have started an investigation into the case. Meanwhile, the specific batch in production has been halted and shut off.

The incident has caused concern among consumers, and some commenters on social media wonder if this was the first time something like this has happened. “How do we know this hasn’t happened many times before?”

Others speculate about what might have motivated the man to urinate at the production site. There are those who believe that the man is part of an undercover operation orchestrated by a rivaling company, aimed at discrediting Tsingtao. It’s even suggested that there were two ‘moles’ leaking in this incident: one doing the urinating, and the other doing the video ‘leak.’

Meanwhile, there are voices who are critical of Tsingtao, suggesting that the renowned beer brand has not effectively addressed the ‘pee gate’ scandal. It remains uncertain how this incident will impact the brand, but some netizens are already expressing reservations about ordering a Tsingtao beer as a result.

But there are also those who joke about the “pissing incident,” wondering if Tsingtao Beer might soon launch a special “urine flavored beer.”

By Manya Koetse

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Featured photo by Jay Ang (link).

Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us. First-time commenters, please be patient – we will have to manually approve your comment before it appears.

©2023 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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China Local News

Streamed Without Realizing: Chinese Village Cadres Suspended after Sex Scene Video Leaks Online

“Village cadres are so hard-working. Besides conducting conferences, they also do live-streaming!”

Manya Koetse

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Two cadres working in Weicheng District in Shandong Province were suspended this week after an “inappropriate video” that showed them engaging in sexual acts started circulating on Chinese social media.

The two got a bit too cozy together in a meeting room, and the moment allegedly was unknowingly caught on camera after a secretary did not turn the camera off after a video conference.

On October 6, Phoenix News (@凤凰网) reported that the subdistrict office in question denied that such an incident took place in their jurisdiction.

The local Discipline Inspection Commission, however, confirmed that the incident did take place and that the case was under investigation, although they would not confirm which positions the two cadres held. Online, it was claimed that they are a thirty-something male secretary in and a fifty-something female director.

Some Chinese media sources noted that the video in question seems to have been recorded from a security camera system screen, raising questions about whether the two had forgotten about the security cameras, or if they actually forgot to turn off a conference call camera, or if the incident was captured by both the security cameras and the webcam.

On Weibo and other Chinese social media, the incident has caused some banter among netizens.

“At least our Party comrades are now addressing their needs internally without causing harm to society – that could be considered a form of progress,” one popular comment said.

“It’s not bad, it’s just bad that they forgot to turn the webcam off,” others replied.

“Ah, so this is officially what officials do?” others wondered.

“Village cadres are so hard-working. Besides conducting conferences, they also do livestreaming!”

By now, it’s been confirmed by a staff member at the Wangliu St. Office in Weifang that the two individuals involved, both village cadres, have been suspended. They are currently under investigation by the Disciplinary Inspection Committee. By early Saturday, a related hashtag had garnered over 200 million views on Weibo (#两干部流出不雅视频被停职#).

By Manya Koetse

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©2023 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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