Single-life females

For musician Yue Er, she feels that dating apps make it easier to meet new people, but harder to find real love. In the documentary, she just ended a heartbreaking relationship and welcomed her 30th birthday in tears.

"I am the kind of woman who must be always nurtured by love," she says in the film. She meets a funny man through a dating app. They hang out together and meet each other's friends, but there is no further commitment.

In stark contrast to the cool musician, Dong Jiaqi, born in 1995, is more like a neighbor's sister who is obsessed with Hello Kitty.

In the documentary, she can be seen participating in matchmaking activities, like blind dating and speed dating, but most men appear disappointed upon learning her age.

"The struggles and doubts presented in the film are familiar to many women in modern society, which are worth recording and being seen," Dong Xueying says.

She selected the five women from more than 20 candidates, recording their lives for more than 300 hours in eight cities across three countries.

Data reflects that settling down is not easy for people today. Last year, 7.63 million couples registered for marriage, the lowest number since 2003, according to the latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics.

The average age of a woman's first marriage in China is indeed on the rise, especially in big cities. Take Shanghai for example, in 2019, the average age of a woman's first marriage in Shanghai was 29.09 years old, up from 21.4 in 1990, according to Shanghai Women's Federation.

As one of an increasing number of single women, Dong Xueying decided to put female singleness on screen, enabling this social phenomenon to be seen and talked about by more people.