Young Chinese woman sobs in viral video about never having a boyfriend

‘I have never held a man’s hand’

Peony Hirwani
Saturday 18 February 2023 09:32 GMT
Comments
(Weibo)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A viral video in China showing a 28-year-old woman sobbing about never having a boyfriend has resonated with many social media users who identified with her predicament.

Earlier this week, a video of an unnamed woman went viral in China in which she was chatting with her sister-in-law about the pressures she felt in day-to-day life.

“I have never held a man’s hand,” she said in the video, which was first reported by Star Video.

The woman said she has tried everything, including going on blind dates, but hasn’t been able to find love yet.

The Shanghai-based woman also described feeling pressured by her parents to find a partner.

“I can’t disappoint my parents, so I brave it out for the blind dates,” she said in Chinese.

According to SCMP, many people have left sympathetic comments on the video.

“I’m two years older than her, so I can deeply relate to her anxiety,” one person wrote.

Another person added: “I have a similar struggle to hers ... my parents often put pressure on me.”

In 2019, two Chinese companies announced that they’re giving single female employees over the age of 30 an extra eight days of annual “dating leave”.

Hangzhou Songcheng Performance and Hangzhou Songcheng Tourism Management said unmarried women over 30 in “non-frontline” roles would be given an additional eight days of leave over the Chinese New Year to “go home and date”.

“Female employees mostly work in internal functional departments, and some are show performers,” Huang Lei, a human resources manager at one of the firms, told a local publication.

“They have less contact with the outside world; thus we hope to give more leave to them to give them more time and opportunities to be in contact with the opposite sex.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in