Last year witnessed a 10 percent increase in the number of
international marriages. As the age gap narrows and more foreign
female partners get involved, there may be a real chance of love,
writes Tian Xiuzhen
Zhou said among the 3,300 registered marriages, nearly half are
made up of Shanghai women and Japanese men. Most of these women
married to Japanese men are divorced or from Shanghai suburbs.
Marriage has no national boundaries, nor does it have any guarantee
of happiness or sadness even when you see merry Shanghai natives
hook elbows with their partner of another nationality.
In
the year 2001, the city saw nearly 3,300 such international couples
head to the altar, a 10 percent increase on the year 2000.
"Local citizens registered for marriage with people from over 60
countries from around the world in 2001," said Zhou Jixiang,
director of Shanghai Marriage Registry Office under the Municipal
Civil Administration Bureau.
"It is a symbol that the city is opening more and more to the
outside world."
Among the registered, many couples click in their workplace. As
more foreign capital flows into Shanghai, more foreigners come to
work here, which offers more chances for international marriages,
Zhou said.
Easy Fortune
The age gap has been reduced to six to eight years and there are
more foreign women marrying Shanghai men, another positive sign
encouraging the registry office.
"This was not always the case," Zhou said. "Usually the age
difference would be around 20-30 years."
Working in the registry office, Zhou and his colleagues would often
see a foreign man from an older generation come in with a young
Shanghai woman to apply for a marriage certificate.
"We sometimes made mistakes when addressing them, which embarrassed
us and the applicants," Zhou said.
There was a time shortly after the country began to open up that
Shanghai women went crazy for marriage with foreign men, from any
country, with the purpose of going aboard.
Those women, thinking that marriage to a foreigner meant gaining a
big and easy fortune, took great chances without worrying much
about their future life.
"They risked their youth and only they themselves would know how
much they had to pay for what they gained," Zhou said.
Things have improved as Shanghai has developed, but there will
still be some who see marriage to a foreign national as a shortcut
worth trying.
Zhou said among the 3,300 registered marriages, nearly half are
made up of Shanghai women and Japanese men. Most of these women
married to Japanese men are divorced or from Shanghai suburbs.
Japanese Bars
"Nobody can be sure that these marriages are the products of love.
In my opinion, 90 percent could be fake marriages," said Zhang Tao,
newly registered with a Japanese woman.
Zhang, aged 34, showed the photo of Kanno Harumi, his legal wife
who looks much younger than her real age 47, with obvious
pride.
Harumi was single when her father met Zhang on one of his frequent
trips to Shanghai. The father liked Zhang very much and decided to
introduce him to his daughter.
The two called each other often for a long period before they
finally agreed to meet in Shanghai last September. Luckily and
incredibly, they fell in love at first sight.
"I
could not believe my eyes. She looked so young and pretty," Zhang
said. "I am sure we will have a successful marriage because we
share many interests."
The language barrier is not a problem for Zhang because Harumi's
mother is a Taiwan native, so she knows a lot about Chinese
culture.
However, not all women married to Japanese were as fortunate as
Zhang.
"It is much easier for them to make money in Japan, US$500 to 700 a
month by simply working in a bar, which might be the reason why
they choose Japan," Zhang said.
Matchmakers
Some Chinese who live in Japan even make money by organizing
Japanese men on tours to Shanghai for the purpose of searching for
women.
Most of the time, they are successful at bringing back several
women.
Then they will get divorced and the women will be responsible for
covering the fees of all procedures, and the Japanese men will get
a certain allowance. Some other women will stay with their Japanese
husbands, no matter what life is awaiting.
"Such cases happen but we cannot prevent them because we have no
legal right to interrogate a couple on the purpose for their
marriage," Zhou said.
"International marriage can serve as a bridge of communication
between different cultures," Zhou said. "From this perspective, it
should be encouraged."
But due to the actual differences such cultural clashes, economic
gaps and moral concepts, the country has not yet fully opened
services in this area.
There are now over 60 certified matchmaking offices doing business
in Shanghai but none are allowed to introduce international
marriage.
But many still offer such services under the table, Zhou said. One
operation recently faced closure for breaking this rule, and
authorities will continue to enforce the regulation.
"It is destined to be a failure, if marriages are made for other
reasons besides the marriage," Zhou warned.
To
try to prevent miserable cases from happening, the registry office
asks new couples to make a vow when getting their certificate.
Registry is only the beginning of a marriage which is in fact a
long road for the two to travel. Whether the road will be a floral
paradise or a haunting nightmare depends on the mutual
understanding and efforts of the two parties, Zhou said.
(Shanghai
Star January 24, 2002)