onsdag 12. august 2026

The lonely Chinese men being conned by fake brides

At 37, Wang Zhuang had almost given up hope of finding a wife, until he saw the glossy matchmaking adverts. They promised he wouldn't have to waste years on building a relationship that had no future. They offered to introduce him to a demure, devoted woman.

"The matchmakers said that girls from Guizhou are frugal," Wang says. "They told me they are good at running a household, able to do housework, and their families are very poor, so after marrying into your family, they would settle down and live a life with you."

So Wang travelled to Guiyang, a city in the southwestern province of Guizhou, in the hope of finding his soulmate. He thought he had, when he was matched with a woman who seemed to tick every box. They had only met a few times before they married. Then, almost as quickly as his new life had begun, it was over.