MORE than 10,000 singles have signed up for the city's largest matchmaking event next weekend with a larger participation of youngsters, organizers said yesterday.
Over 60 percent of participants are below 30 years of age. The youngest girl is 22 years old and the youngest man is 23, both university students, the city's matchmaking association said.
Some parents whose children are 24 and 25 years old worry about for their children's single status and pushed them to participate in the event, said Zhou Juemin, director of the association.
Organizers said there will be more "post 90s" - those born after 1990 - at this year's 10,000-Person Matchmaking Event.
With intensified media coverage of "leftover women and men," many have signed up for the mass matchmaking event.
"I don't like the idea of a mass matchmaking party, where it is difficult to find my Mr Right. But my mother keeps chattering about my single status and she wants me to have a look at similar events," said Ada Yu, a 26-year-old Shanghainese accountant.
More men signed up for this year's event compared to previous ones, but women remained dominant with 51 percent already signing up, Zhou said.
Last year and in 2011, it was hard for the organizers to spot enough men, who either shrugged off such events or did not worry about them being single.
Some 40,000 people showed up at last year's events, including parents who lined up outside and needled men for information.
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