Parents in China are reportedly huddling on Saturday and Sunday afternoons at People's Park in order to look for the right man or woman for their children.

According to reports, the park, known as the "marriage market," is located at downtown Shanghai and the paths are filled with parents holding pastel-colored umbrellas that contain information about their son or daughter. It includes the children's weight, height, age, level of education and occupation.

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The parents are able to chat with each other about the attributes and attitudes that their children have. If the parents think that they have found the right match and they thing their children would love the other parent's child, they will then arrange a blind date for the two.

This practice is said to have started more than ten years ago specifically in Shanghai but it is now being done in other parts of the country as well. According to Zhen Trudy Wang, a former magazine reporter for Shanghai, the People's park was where parents go to practice dancing, play badminton or do martial arts and the matchmaking was natural amongst parents who were talking about their children.

The marriage market is a way for parents to approve a relationship for their children before they even met the other half.

"In Chinese culture, the in-laws are very important," she said. "So if the in-laws like you at first sight, it's really helpful," Wang explains.

Most of the people being set up for a date are on their late 20s or early 30s and it is a generation of well-educated and professional singles. The unmarried women are reportedly called "sheng nu" which means leftover women in the English language.

Aside from the marriage market, singles can also meet their possible lifetime partner via dating websites such as Jiayuan.com. Dating game shows are also being showed in China and it is quite popular although Wang points out that it's rare that these people joining in these shows would be lifetime partners. 

TagsMarriage Market, dating, Chinese parents, blind date, People's Park, sheng-nu