More and more Chinese women are financially "smart" in making decisions for their marriage as the utilitarian ideas get their way in society nowadays. There are even classes where husband-seekers can learn strategies on how to marry a rich man.
A life-and-death race to snare a rich husband?
In many parts of the world, it's not easy for a woman to snag a rich man. But in China, it's an acquired art that can be learned in class.
China's new rich are among the newest and the richest globally: 64 Chinese just made it onto the Forbes magazine list of the world's richest billionaires.
In a competition against millions of prettier, smarter rivals, seven women are searching for an edge at Jianwai Soho in Beijing's frenzied Central Business District.
A picture of a book called Marry the Right Person hangs on the wall. Shao Tong, relationship consultant at a Beijing-based company is revealing how to read a rich face.
"When you see him the first time, you should pay attention to his left face because it shows his real personality," Shao says.
"While the right one is what we call 'a social face.'"
She projects on screen the photo of the son of a millionaire in Beijing who recently married.
"Look at his picture as a whole," the teacher says. "Isn't he handsome?"
The students nod fiercely.
Then she divides the picture into two halves.
"Now focus on his left face, what can you see?"
There's a painful, near 1-minute, hiatus as students mutter in low voices: "Bad temper? Aggressive?"
The teacher smiles.
"Look carefully into his eyes," she says. "Then you can see he is insecure and unhappy. He wants love and sympathy."
"Ohhh…" the students nod again and take down extensive notes.
A buxom lady at the back raises her hand.
"Can we know how much money he has by reading his face?" she says.
The answer, to her obvious disappointment, is "no."
For more traditionally minded Chinese, the face is a window to the soul and Shao is touting her second sight for the Deyu Nü Xueguan company - the "school for virtuous ladies.".
"Knowing what kind of person he is on the first date leads you to final victory," she says.
Mind your manners
Rich Chinese men might be good at judging businesspeople and deals, she says, but they have less expertise knowing the women they date. They tend to observe their prey quietly at dinner, Shao explains.
"They observe the way you eat, the food you order and the communication you have with the waiter to judge if you are wife material," she says.
"And no matter what happens during dinner, you have to stay calm."
Some of his students, aged between 21 and 49, are blinded by their desire to marry rich, says Ding Zhenyu, a consultant at the same company.
He cited the example of a 49-year-old divorced mother scaling all 30 floors to make his "How To Marry a Rich Chinese" class when all the elevators were out of order.
A maximum of 15 students are willing to invest in their marital future: 2,000 yuan for 10 hours of classes. One-on-one consulting costs 600 yuan for two hours.
China today has more billionaires than any other country except the United States. It's gotten to the point that some enterprising Western gold-diggers are starting to think it's time to go east.
According to the Forbes' 2011 rich list, of the world's 1,210 billionaires, the 36 richest have never married. 175 are single and 48 are women. Some 81 billionaires are divorced, six are getting divorced and another 52 were widowed.
In "2011 China Investment Guide: How to Marry A Rich Chinese," Russell Flannery, Forbes' Shanghai bureau chief, said China's new rich are big.
China's rich come in two categories, the author of Shanghai Girls: Uncensored & Unsentimental: How to Marry Up & Stay There, told the magazine: provincial or urban.
The former made their money selling livestock, frozen meat or cheap electronics, Mina Hanbury Tension said. The latter made money in manufacturing and investment.
The rising second-generation wealthy young men in their 20s are due to inherit their parents' business, she noted.
When it comes to these rich Chinese guys, it's important to know the difference between a wife and a girlfriend.
"They're very used to the idea of mistresses," she said, "and the wives are also more tolerant of mistresses."
"There is a silent code, however. You do not go in the same grounds with your mistress that you would go with your wife."
He's ready to be trapped, a second-generation princeling told the Global Times.
"I think marrying a foreign woman is good," said the Beijing son of a wealthy developer who requested anonymity.
"It helps win honor for my country."
