"If You Are the One” (Fēi Chéng Wù Rǎo| 非诚勿扰), is a hugely popular reality dating show produced by Jiangsu Satellite TV and broadcast nationwide since Jan.15, 2010. Presented by Meng Fei (孟非) and airing at 21:20 every Saturday and Sunday, this all new speed dating show has astonishingly grabbed the attention of a whole nation and its netizens. Its interactive style has completely broken away from traditional dating methods, reflecting a whole new attitude towards dating among China’s new generation of young men and women.

The show consists of 24 single women who decide whether the male contestants get to stay or go, by either keeping the light on their podium on or turning it off. After successfully surviving a number of rounds, including “first impressions”, “the second judgment”, “the final decision” and “men’s right”, the remaining contestants then get to decide on their match.

Three male contestants from the United States and Europe have participated in the show so far: Samuel from America (Chinese name: Lu Zhiyan鲁志焰), Alex from England (Chinese name: Wang Doufu王豆腐) and Mike from Sweden. What surprised many is that the three eligible singles did remarkably well at the beginning, receiving more than 20 lights each in the first round. However, the final outcome of the show ultimately surprised no one.

Mike from Sweden are talking to the host Meng Fei

Mike and Zhou Ying

On the evening of December 11, Mike from Sweden successfully hooked up with contestant no. 22, Zhou Ying (周颖), making him the first European or American candidate to successfully find a match on the show. However, like the other two foreign contestants who stood out with their distinct looks and shoddy Chinese, Mike too received a healthy dose of skepticism and mistrust from the show’s female contestants and netizens. But what perhaps became the most fascinating aspect of the show however, were the obvious differences in attitudes towards dating and the clear cultural differences between East and West.

Where’s your Daddy?

“I can’t leave my father. He (the foreigner) will definitely go back to his home country some day, so I might as well find a local man – it’s more reliable.” This was one contestant’s reason for turning off the lights on the three foreign men.

Even though the men promised to live in China forever, the female contestants nevertheless remained cautious. Chinese people are very conscious of their roots, so for them “foreign lands” not only refers to geographical distance, but to a sense of “race” and belonging.

Samuel from America (right)

You think and do what?

“I still can’t accept foreign love.” “Foreigners make good friends, but not good boyfriends. There are too many differences. Like food for example; he likes to eat Western food, I like to eat Chinese food.” Many of the female contestants expressed the fact that overcoming differences in cultural habits and logical thinking was much more difficult than solving regional issues. Lights immediately started going off after Samuel (Lu Zhiyan) said: “I hope that my future wife will have the same world outlook as me, that she won’t lie and won’t love designer names.” And as he continued to say that he thinks loving designer brands is superficial, that the clothes he had on were bought from a supermarket and that he feels honest and comfortable in them, many of the women began showing their irritation.

Alex from England

Another interesting moment in the show was Alex’s self-destructive confession of “liking to collect trash.” When the contestants asked him the question they were all eager to ask – what his parents do for a living – Alex replied: “My father works in an investment bank and my mother is an artist.” The contests continued by asking him why he likes to pick up rubbish. Not comprehending his answer, Alex replied: “Pollution is a serious problem in China. I just want to help the world, help earth – that’s not a bad thing.”

It’s a material world, honey

The female contestants were most reluctant to bring up the topic of money, yet money was precisely the deciding factor in their decisions. Samuel and Alex were the two contrasting examples of this.

Despite Samuel’s good looks and muscly abdomen, the tall American failed to win over the ladies. After he lost one of the rounds, a video was shown of his job and high income. The cameraman then conveniently panned over to the female contestants, to show their expressions of surprise and regret. Wu Xiao, a contestant who had turned the light off on him, even tried to turn the light back on after seeing the footage. When she realized it was hopeless, she managed to convince Xia Yan (who hadn’t turned off the light) to swap seats with her. This was a huge contrast to the reaction triggered by Alex’s video footage. All the lights immediately went off when it emerged that he was a DJ in a bar and a “poor student”, and when footage of his simple flat and rubbish and bottle collection was shown.

Source: culture.ifeng.com

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