Young Chinese find lovers through livestream

Every three minutes, Huang Wenyi's phone screen displays a new livestream participant for her to ask questions to.

Through the questions, the 25-year-old girl in Chengdu City will know about the life, ambitions and desires of the candidate who is "applying" to find a lover.

Singles will first submit an application to Huang to participate in the livestream, sharing information such as their education, occupation, hobbies, talents and what they are looking for.

The trailers are usually three to five minutes long, and followers who find them interesting will either private message them or connect with them via social media.

Live streaming to find a lover is popular in China. Photo: Sixth Tone — Live streaming to find a lover is popular in China. Photo: *Sixth Tone*

This is a form of dating that is spreading on Chinese social media. Young singles try to find partners among thousands of online viewers. They call it blind dating (pairing when the two do not know each other) through livestreams.

“People love watching this, they hope to help someone find a date,” said Huang, who likened the format to the dating game show If You Are The One that dominated Chinese weekend television.

Huang’s livestream, called High-Quality Blind Dates , is broadcast on the Xiaohongshu app and mainly attracts people in their 20s. Similarly, many other livestreams have also appeared on social media to serve the group of people who are serious about marriage and socializing.

Data from Legal Daily shows that 66 live streams of dating were broadcast during the Lunar New Year, attracting more than 15 million views each. On social networks Douyin and TikTok, viewers are diverse in age, especially middle-aged people.

Soul dating app survey shows that online platforms are now one of the most important channels for young people to build relationships.

The online dating and marriage services market is now worth $1 billion and is estimated to double by 2026, according to data from consultancy Business Point.

The boom comes as China faces a looming population crisis. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the proportion of unmarried people in the 25-29 age group was 56.9% in 2022. The average age of marriage rose to 28.7 in 2020.

In late January, Huang, a medical student who had passed her exams, started livestreaming to share her experiences with others. However, she soon realized that the conversations often led to personal relationships. This helped Huang attract a large audience, increasing interactions and recognition on social media.

She usually livestreams from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., sometimes extending to 3 a.m. because of the lively conversation. To please her fans, Huang once held a 72-hour livestream and invited more people to join her.

Huang’s livestream subscribers are typically 24-34 years old and come from a variety of professions, including PhDs, masters, and civil servants. The majority of those under 30, who account for 40%, are not under heavy pressure to get married, and want to join in the fun.

The trend of livestreaming to find a lover also raises concerns about the authenticity of personal information or fraud. Huang is aware of this, she often reminds viewers to be careful about personal and financial data.

Huang's channel has successfully matched five people as of late February.

"The pace is quite fast, but how the relationship progresses depends on the individual," Huang said. "I'm just the one who provides the opportunity."

Liu Xinliang, 28, met his girlfriend Cao Zhihong during Huang's live stream. At the time, Liu was not ready to start a serious relationship because of his unstable job.

"I told him about my life experiences, graduating, working for two years and traveling to more than 40 countries," Liu said. This caught Cao Zhihong's attention and he sent him a message.

They decided to start dating two weeks later despite living in different cities. Liu is currently looking for a new job to move closer to her lover, and they planned to meet for the first time in May.

Lei Mengyuan, 25, believes young people like chatting and dating online because it is fast and easy. Lei has watched Huang on many live streams.

On the other hand, Huang also helped a depressed person in a live stream, helping them open up to society and find encouragement. She does not charge viewers for her live stream and only receives a small gift to support their income.

"Young people today are really lonely and I hope I can heal someone," Huang said.

Ngoc Ngan (According to Sixth Tone )

Source