Here are the personal stories behind a modern demographic crisis in China.

Since 1980 when China decreed that couples should have just one child, there has been an alarming disproportion of young men over young women. Many reasons have been given for this, including selective abortion, infanticide, and adoption.

This film follows 24-year-old Xinhau Lu, who still lives with his parents on a small farm in rural China, as he searches for a wife. Knowing he would not attract a bride in his impoverished circumstances, he travels 860 miles to Beijing, in the hopes of finding work and attracting a bride. His loneliness is evident when he attends the wedding of a more fortunate childhood friend.

Some young women across China are being kidnapped and sold as brides. We meet Qing, only 16 years old when she was snatched and forced to live with a desperate bachelor. There are women, like Shao Ying, who are making successful careers and enjoying the single life. The Chinese government believes that within 15 years as many as 40 million men will be permanent bachelors.

Association of Asian Studies, 2009