- In a bid to tackle its sex problem, China's "Love-Pursuit" train brings young men and women together on a two-day journey to play ice-breakers and get to know each other.
- Since its launch three years ago, the matchmaking train has set up a platform for over 3,000 young single people to find love.
- Since abolishing its one-child policy in 2015, the country has been struggling not only with an imbalance of sexes but also a lack of interest in marriage for young women.
- So far, the matchmaking train has been quite successful, with the China Daily reporting that 10 marriages have resulted from it, as well as hundreds of other relationships.
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In a country like China, where there are 30 million more males than females and women no longer seek to get married the way they used to, finding the right partner is not always easy.
With over 200 million singletons, young people need to find new ways to meet people — and a literal overnight "Love Train" might be the answer to this problem.
In the southwestern provinces of Sichuan and Chongqing, the "Y999" train, also known as the "Love-Pursuit" train is designed to help young women and men fall in love. As the China Daily reports, the project began three years ago and has already transported thousands of single people on its three journeys to date.
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With the aim of finding a romantic relationship, 1,000 single people took part in the trip again this year on August 10. The train departed from Chongqing North station and after a two-day journey with an overnight stay, the passengers arrived — expectantly fresh in love — in Qianjiang.
Ice-breakers and fun activities during the train ride are meant to help passengers get to know each other better and get the chemistry flowing.
The pursuit of true love is the hopeful aim on China's matchmaking train https://t.co/Dr2h5uaTFYpic.twitter.com/izA2piSBPX
— AsiaOne (@asiaonecom) August 22, 2019
"These activities are more creative than matchmaking. The train is like a bridge, bringing people from different places together, to get to know each other during the journey," said Huang Song, one of the participants on the Love-Pursuit Train. "Even if you don't find the right one for you, you can still make a lot of friends on the train."
Read more: These are the keys to a happy marriage in China
While the Communist Party of China's youth league has backed this project, it has also adopted more radical approaches to fixing it's coupling problem, including "morality-schools" for women to counteract the declining birth rate. In 2015 the government announced the end of its decades-long one-child-only policy after concerns that a marriageless and childless society could lead to the downfall of the People's Republic.
Young men, in particular, are experiencing this problem. In the more rural regions of the country, entire villages are inhabited only by bachelors and their parents, while women often move to large cities, in the hopes of finding a wealthier man. Many women also decide to stay single, focusing instead on making a career and leading an independent life.
According to the China Daily, the love train is working — so far, the two-day train trip has brought together hundreds of people and 10 couples have even gotten married.
And if people don't find their perfect match, it is not a total train wreck — the very least the trip offers is a very good opportunity to make new friends.