Matchmaking party attracts 10,000 romantics

Shanghai's matchmaking party is proving to be a hot date with 10,000 singles already registering.

The youngest person in event, on May 18 and 19, is just 21 but the "leftover lady syndrome" remains a powerful incentive, according to the Shanghai Morning Post.

Zhou Juemin, president of Shanghai Matchmaking Agency Management Association, one of the co-organizers, said they're expecting more males this year. There were six females for every four males in previous events.

More than 80 percent of all the applicants this year are undergraduates and about 20 percent of them have master or doctorial degrees, said Zhou. Anyone who’s under 45 is qualified to enter.

Currently there're four unmarried women for each single man in Shanghai. The majority of single women are ages between 30-35.

Yu Jiamei, a matchmaker who has been in the business for decades, said "finding a good match for women in the 33-36 age group is the most difficult".

"They're picky in terms of looking for men with comparable levels of salary and educational background. But men in that age group prefer younger women," she said.