The men in a remote farming village are having problems finding mates
While some men might cling onto their bachelor status for dear life, that is sadly not the case for the men of Laoya village in China's Anhui province.
Known as the "bachelor village" by the locals, 112 men between the ages of 30 and 55 years old were registered as single in 2014, out of a total population of 1,600 people.
Xiong Shouqing, a local official for the village told CCTV News: "At the worst time, nearly, 40% of men in our village can't find a wife."
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Asked why this is happening, local authorities said that the village experiences extreme poverty due to its remote location and the villagers' old-fashioned farming techniques.
While many of the men have remained in the village to tend to the family farms, more and more women over the years have moved to bigger cities to look for work and aren't returning home, thus causing the imbalance and ageing population in Laoya.
And while some of the village's men such as 56-year-old Wang Chengzhi have learnt to live a life of complete solitude doing the things he loves, others like 77-year-old Xiong Jigen continue to go on matchmaking sessions until he finds a mate to help him make life "bearable."
The local government has considered turning to tourism for the answer to the village's economic woes.
"Tourism can be a prosperous industry. If we develop rural tourism, the villagers may become richer, It may be helpful to solve the problem," Xiong said.
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