Back in the 1980s, the bride's family often presented a motorbike as a betrothal present for the bridegroom. Today a new car is the gift of choice.

    Li recalled that a university student surnamed Lou came to his office asking for the hand of a rich girl but no one worth less than 10 million yuan (1.25 million dollars).

    "The pressure for men to be successful at work is getting more intense in China. An average worker would probably find it hard to buy a house or a car without his parents' support. I therefore provide a platform for these people to find love, and live comfortably too," Li said.

    Among the candidates, some young men come from better-off families, and want to marry into a rich family because it is a "rational choice" for their careers and positions in society.

    When asked if the divorce rate is high in such arrangements, Li said that most of the couples he knew had no problem with their marriages.

    A young man surnamed Chen from the Jiangxi Province which neighbors Zhejiang married into a Xiaoshan family in 1998. The 36-year-old has become a senior executive officer for one of the biggest private companies in Xiaoshan.

    Chen said he perfectly understands those who are eager to marry into wealth. Some want to start their own business in the future, others simply seek a comfortable life. "However, I am an exception," Chen claimed.

    The truth is his wife's family is not rich at all.

    "The only reason I married her is because I love her. As an open-minded intellectual, I do not care about whether my child takes after my surname or not," he added.

    Chen said that unlike him, most men who marry into rich families do not live happily.

    "Their status is quite low in the family. Nobody listens to them. They have to bear the contempt from the elders. If a man has a university education background, he will be fine; if not, especially if he is not capable of doing anything, his life will be miserable," Chen added.

    Last year, a local court in Guali County of Xiaoshan dealt with more than 20 divorce cases from such families, most men have had to leave the district where their former wives' families live, the Southern Weekly reported.

    (Source: China Daily)