A 26-year-old woman in Beijing is recruiting a man to be her temporary boyfriend from the biggest global Chinese online community, in order to stop her mother bringing her back to their hometown.
The woman, who wished to be identified as Vivian, is from Guizhou Province. She posted her message on www.tianya.cn, the most popular Chinese online community, last Tuesday, saying she needed a man to pretend to be her boyfriend when her mother visited her in Beijing on Thursday.
"I will pay 100 yuan per day, excluding bills," Vivian wrote online. "You should look over 30, and make my mother feel secure about the relationship. You should have a stable job, such as a public servant, or at least be able to pretend that to my mother when we meet. It is better you have a car and an apartment."
She included two recent photos of herself.
"My mother thinks that as I have been working away from home for three years, it is time for me to settle down. She found me a job in my hometown," the 26-year-old told METRO on Thursday.
"My mother has not left my city for 20 years. I understand she is doing what she believes is good for me. But that is not what I want," she said.
Vivian said she started an online business with her friends six months ago and hopes that she can have a life and career in the capital.
Vivian's post was viewed over 1,000 times in 48 hours, and almost 100 netizens responded to her message.
"I received many calls, and interviewed two men. I hired one of them, I just hope the man will come to the dinner as we planned," she said. "To be honest, I am not sure where the fake boyfriend plan will go. But that is the only plan I could come up with in two days that would please my mother."
Young professionals hiring boyfriends or girlfriends to meet their families is becoming increasingly common as they are facing more pressure about love and marriage issues than their parents' generation, an expert explained.
"Vivian's problem is quite common among the younger generation, especially for people who were born in 1980s," Zhu Li, chief psychological consultant and CEO of www.juedui100.com, said on Thursday.
Zhu believes the lack of communication between young people and their parents is the major cause of the problems.
"It should be a good chance for Vivian's mother to get to know her daughter's life in Beijing. When she realizes that Vivian is like most young people in Beijing, who are busy with work and plan to start their own families later, she wouldn't worry so much," Zhu said.
But she added that hiring a boyfriend or girlfriend is not very mature behavior.
"The young generation has been commercialized. Money cannot solve their problems permanently," she said.
