演播室访谈:未婚女性过了某个年龄标记为剩女（在线收听）

The so-called shengnyu, or "leftover women", this rather insulting word was coined six years ago, referring to single, urban and educated women over the age of 27. This group of women faces intense pressure to marry, but many of them find it hard to find someone they really want to spend the rest of their lives with.

Leftover women, professional single females in their late twenties. It’s become a buzz word in China. And this group of women is growing rapidly in the cities. They’re facing an unprecedented "unmarried crisis".

Many of them spent time on their education and personal career development to prove their personal value in modern society. But when they finally start the search for Mr. Right, the problems begin.

“I would like to date a guy who is a bit older than me, maybe in his early thirties, but a lot of them are already in a stable relationship. The choices left for me are really limited.” Sales manager Yang Xiting said.

Added to that, many Chinese men haven’t caught up with the times and only want to marry a younger woman.

According to a major national survey in 2010, nine out of 10 men in China think women should get married before they’re 27.

The increasingly competitive society requires much more from a professional woman than before.

“We are the women in the modern age who have had good education. But the development of society hasn’t kept up with us, so we became the "leftover girls", a group sacrificed in this contradictory age.” Yang said.

Many men, stuck in their old ideas, say the more successful women are, the harder it is for them to find a partner.

“We all say men and women are equal. Many women nowadays are working jobs that used to be restricted to guys. They are all great women, but the excellent get left over.”

One expert says the environment in which these women grew up might have also contributed to their single status as well.

“Most of these so-called leftover women were the only children in their family. They had no siblings and were alone growing up. So psychologically they are used to being alone and sometimes self-centered.” Sociologist Zhou Xiaozheng said.

Despite social pressure, most of these women don’t want to be pushed into the wrong marriage.

“If I get married, I don’t want it to be a result of social or family pressure. The only reason to get married is love.” Company employee Cao Yue said.

Experts also say being single is an individual choice.

A civilized society should be more tolerant and give more freedom to people to choose their own lifestyles.