¡300 MILLONES de SOLTEROS en China! La generación más SOLA de la historia

More than 300 million single people in China. The alarming boom of the most lonely generation. In a city with millions of people, it has never been more difficult to feel alone. Behind the glass towers and the crowded subway, a silent crisis is deepening. Countless people choose loneliness, or it is chosen by them. This growing loneliness in the midst of urban density reflects changes in social dynamics and a greater personal pressure. I don't have plans to get married. You can't blame me for not getting married. Blame this time. I'm quite desperate. To be honest, I feel sad. There are so many older single women in Beijing. The number has exceeded 2.23 million. Many people would say that it should be easy for me to find a partner. In reality, it is just the opposite. I don't have a house near the center. I don't have a family register book in Beijing. I don't have a stable job and I'm 1.58 meters tall. I'm just a slave in Beijing. I'm 37 years old and I've been working here for 10 years. The marriage prospects here are conditioned by economic and social barriers, not just by personal decisions. Due to factors such as China's economic slowdown and social injustice, more and more young people don't want to get married. The marriage rate in China has been decreasing almost continuously during the last decade, and last year it plummeted by almost 21%. An older woman has never gotten married because she feels that doing so would reduce her standard of living. I will never get married. The main reason why I don't want to get married is that marriage doesn't have what I need. I have my own house, I can drive my own car and I can earn money, but I don't find any reason to get married. On the contrary, getting married would lower my standard of living. The money I earn would become common property. I would have to balance family and work at the same time, and I would even have to prevent the man from cheating on me and finding the lover. Just thinking about it overwhelms me. For many women, economic independence changes the cost-benefit relationship of marriage, and often the costs seem too high. I don't want to be bothered by the trivialities of life, or that my emotions are influenced by others. I just want to leave time for myself and do what I like. Some people may feel alone being alone, but nowadays, aren't there many couples at home who just look at their phones without talking to each other? Suddenly I don't want to get married or have children anymore. I started dating a guy a few months ago, and he is probably the person I would like to marry the most. Our neighbors next door are a young couple with a 2 or 3-year-old son. I saw that girl's life. She cleaned, cooked and took care of the child every day. Most of the time she seemed unhappy. Her hair and clothes were also very messy, probably because she hadn't spent time or money on herself for a long time. There are two nurseries just below where I live. Every day, at 4 in the afternoon, you can see a long line of people waiting to pick up their children. This scene reminds me that if I get married and have children in the future, I will have to spend more than 3 hours cooking, eating and cleaning every day. Then I will have to pick up the children at 4 in the afternoon and be with them until they fall asleep at 9.30. In this situation, if I want to have time for myself, it would be exhausting. Suddenly I realized that marriage is not as wonderful as I imagined. I imagined a marriage in which two people were happy and harmonious every day. But the reality is that suddenly there are many more interpersonal relationships and conflicts to manage. This strong contrast between idealized marriage and lived reality feeds the doubts of many young people about the institution. China is entering rapidly into the era of the super-single and this trend has attracted great attention. According to the Statistical Annual Report of China's Population and Employment in 2023, by 2022 the number of single people in China had exceeded 240 million and by the end of 2024 this figure could reach 300 million. The rate of single people over the age of 25 has reached 70.8%, that is, more than 70%. Among young people between the ages of 25 and 29, the rate of single people is 51.3%, which means that more than half are not married. The percentage of single people around the age of 30 in cities reached 30.7%, which means that approximately one in three people is not married. Why do more and more young people not want to get married today? The truth is, I don't want to get married either. What is the reason? Because I feel that today there is a lot of pressure in society and I don't make a lot of money. It is already quite difficult to keep myself. How am I going to get married? Although I am a girl, I like to think from the perspective of others. If I look at it from the point of view of a man, I feel that today the social pressure is enormous. You have to take care of your parents, and if you get married, you have to take care of your children. I can't keep myself, I can't keep the elders, much less the children. It's too much pressure. You see, today when it comes to marriage, you need a car, house and dowry. I talked about this with my mother the last time and she told me that without a million you can't do these things. My goodness! We are a normal family and we don't have that economic capacity. Financial pressure and social expectations have made marriage an overwhelming milestone, sometimes unreachable. I am 36 years old and I have entered the middle age stage, but still I don't want to get married. Although many people don't understand it, this is a decision I made after a careful reflection. Not out of impulse, and I will not regret it in the future. As a single person who lives alone, I lead a very free life. Today, on the weekend, I slept until I woke up naturally and got up at 10. After making the bed, I started cleaning the room. A room for one person does not get dirty or messy too much. If you are a little lazy, you can do a thorough cleaning once a week. In a world more connected than ever, the rise of loneliness reveals profound economic and social challenges. This era of the super-single forces us to rethink what personal fulfillment and sense of belonging really mean. The question is not only why so many remain single, but how we build a society in which everyone can find purpose and peace, regardless of their civil status. Marriages in China are now priced. Duties go up. Divorces increase. In China, divorce rates among women are increasing, and rapidly. Many believed that they could leave their marriages and easily find richer and more attractive partners. But after taking the step, reality hit them hard. Their expectations did not coincide with the market, and now they are facing the consequences. The first conversation shows a clash between a woman and a man about whether it is reasonable for women to demand great financial expectations. You should only go out with someone with money. If you break up, it's just a bad investment. But if you go out with someone poor and you break up, they have simply taken advantage of you for free. So why call it going out? Call it business. If you end up losing money and being used, were you really there for love? It sounds like you just wanted money. I don't care how much money you give me. In the end, everything will become part of the shared wealth of the home. Why do you always have to be so stingy? Stingy? Really? Easy to say. I gave you 380,000 yuan and you asked for the divorce a week after the wedding. Do you still think it's not a big deal? I borrowed money from friends and family. I paid high interests just to get that amount. You took it and put it in the bank. And me? I have to work, pay the loans and cover all the expenses of the home. And you say it's nothing? I spent 380,000 yuan and ended up marrying someone lazy, materialistic and who also deceived me. And you say it's not a big deal? This man expresses his frustration. My friend did not pay any dowry. He and his wife worked together, bought a house and a car and live happily. And me? I wasted the savings of three generations just to get married. Now I can't criticize or argue. If I say something wrong, it threatens the divorce. And you say it's not a big deal? We both earn 10,000 yuan a month. But while he travels with his family, I have to ask my wife for money just to invite my colleagues to dinner. And I keep paying loans. And you say it's not a big deal? The divorce rate is 50% now. And the higher the dowry, the higher the probability of divorce. And you still say it doesn't matter? Some get married the year they leave college with only 30,000 yuan of dowry. Do you want 380,000 yuan? I would have to save every cent for 15 years to get that. And that seems normal to you? With 300,000 yuan, some set up a business with their partner and turn it into 3 million. But I gave you my 300,000 yuan and you still yelled at me. You said it wasn't enough, so I borrowed another 80,000 yuan. And you think that's nothing? Others spend 380,000 yuan and get a luxury car, status and women who throw themselves at them. I gave them to you and I ended up with a selfish, superficial woman and a fortune teller. A woman who doesn't ask for dowry values you as a person. A woman who demands dowry only values ​​money. The first one stays with you in the good and the bad. The second will pack her bags and leave as soon as things get difficult, for fear of losing her standard of living. And you think it's not a big deal? In this conversation, materialism is not only insinuated, it is openly declared. I am a direct person. I like to speak clearly. So go ahead. My requirements are simple. Have a house and a car. Not to have debts and that parents don't get involved. In fact, I know a boy. He has three apartments and two cars in Xi'an. His parents live separately and travel a lot, so they are hardly present. He meets my standards. Oh, and I go out with my friends every week. It doesn't matter the time, I want him to pick me up. A monthly payment of 10,000 yuan is enough. Besides, I don't like the food to take. I want someone who knows how to cook. That's all. In other words, basically your future husband will be your automatic cashier, bodyguard, private chef and driver. What a hard way to say it. If he really loves me, shouldn't he give me everything? In another story, the consequences of a dispute over dowry broke a relationship of years. I only mentioned dowry and he turned around and married a girl from Generation Z. That's what a 32-year-old doctor dreamt yesterday. She was dating a 33-year-old businessman. House, car, no debts. They met through mutual friends. They dated for two years and planned to get married. But her parents asked for 500,000 yuan as dowry. She saw it right. It was her way of thanking her parents for raising her and financing her doctorate. But the boy's family didn't agree. The relationship ended shortly after. He married a younger woman who didn't ask for dowry. The doctor asked me, Is love so fragile? I answered, He was looking for a life partner, but you made him feel like you were negotiating a contract. Is marriage in China still based on love? Or has it become a transactional exchange? Numbers in a contract instead of votes from the heart? When men don't take responsibility and mistreat their partners, and when women pursue wealth instead of building a life together, the institution of marriage is renewed. Now everything has become a, This is mine, that is yours. And love? Little by little it is running out of budget. Five-star hotels collapse in the middle of China's economic winter. In recent years, the Chinese economy has continued to weaken. Consumption has decreased, and five-star hotels, former symbols of prosperity, are now closing their doors at an alarming rate. Old luxury brands are being sold, auctioned off, or simply abandoned, many at a price that doesn't even attract buyers. In Dongguan, Guangdong Province, several luxury hotels have ceased their activity. The Dijing International Hotel closed in 2021. The Kaijing Hotel in 2020. The Prince Hotel closed in 2014. The Shindong Tai in 2009. The Overseas Chinese Hotel has not received guests since 2005. What you are seeing is the only five-star hotel in the town of Dalingshan, the Dijing International, which has been abandoned for two years. The images captured by drones show grinding excavators, which once was a reference point decorated with all the luxury of details. An overwhelming scene. See how the greatness collapses. With the pressure of the global economy, more hotels disappear in silence. In the Shuangyue Bay of Huichou, even the huge Windham Grand Resort has closed. A quick search on the map reveals that it can no longer be booked. The hotel does not offer services. For many, it is hard to believe that a resort of that size has disappeared without more. On March 20, the media Wealth Freedom published a revealing article The five-star hotels in China are closing. According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, the number of five-star hotels fell from 850 in 2020 to only 736 in the third quarter of 2024, a loss of 114 in five years. Only between February and March 2024, 58 hotel projects were auctioned off. Among the luxury properties put up for sale in 2023 stand out the Bulgari Hotel Shanghai, the Sheraton of Shanghai, the Fairmont of Nanking, the Westin of Chongqing, the Ningbo Yuanzhou Hotel, and the Beijing Jinmao Westin, which once received a president of EE. In December 2023, the Ritz-Carlton, the Intercontinental of Sanya and the Photosynthesis Valley Balneary in Tianjin were sold due to unpaid debt transfers for a combined price of 2 billion yuan. Throughout 2023, 124 luxury hotels were auctioned off for more than 100 million yuan each, many of them without a buyer, and in 2024 the closures have accelerated even more. What is behind this collapse? Much of the cause is linked to the Chinese real estate sector. Behind many five-star hotels there are real estate promoters. In the 1980s, with China's economic opening, high-level business tourism experienced a boom. The magnate of Hong Kong, Henry Fok, built the White Swan Hotel in Canton in 1983, the country's first five-star hotel that received a net profit of 12,822,000 yuan in its first year. This success caused a hotel boom. Of less than 100 five-star hotels two decades ago, China surpassed 800 in 2017. Two factors drove this growth. Increased value of land. Five-star hotels increased land value and attracted investment, so many local governments conditioned the sale of land to the construction of a hotel. Real estate model plus hotel. With the commercialization of housing in the 2000s, promoters prioritized land acquisition. Building a hotel was a requirement, but also a symbol of status that raised the value of surrounding housing. A striking example is Evergrande's endless luxury complex, valued at 3 billion yuan, in the mountains of Guangdong. After digging a slope for its construction, the hotel was abandoned before it was finished and was invaded by the weeds. Today, it is unknown if the works will ever be resumed. The unbridled expansion also contributed, especially through high-risk acquisitions. On the afternoon of July 19, 2017, three real estate giants, Wanda, Sunac and RF, closed a historic deal in the Wanda Sofitel in Beijing. RF bought 77 luxury hotels in Wanda, valued at 33.6 billion yuan for only 19.9 billion yuan. It became the largest owner of luxury hotels in the world, with more than 90 establishments, including Marriott, Hilton and Ritz-Carlton. But this aggressive move destroyed RF's finances. Its losses went from between 100 and 200 million yuan a year before 2017 to 1,530 million in 2022. And it was not an isolated case. Five-star hotels in China offered generally low returns, with just between 0.3% and 4% per year between 2010 and 2018. Even below the mid-range hotels, RF was forced to sell hotels to recover liquidity. In 2024, it had already liquidated 68 hotels, which were acquired at low prices by Temasek, Singapore's sovereign fund, one of its creditors. Beyond poor management, another key problem was over-supply. Many of these luxury hotels were built without real market demand. Ministry of Culture and Tourism data indicate that in the third quarter of 2024, the average room price in a five-star hotel was 599 yuan. Even at that price, occupancy was low in cities like Shanghai. Beijing was not doing better. It received 3.93 million guests in hotels, five stars in the first 10 months of 2024, 1.33 million less than in 1088. As the recession in China worsens and foreign investors withdraw, many five-star hotels are forced to adapt. And fast. Some have begun to lower prices. In Sanya, Marriott now offers two nights with breakfast for only 1,188 yuan. Shenzhen's Hilton Longhua has lowered the price of the buffet from more than 200 to only 79 yuan, an offer that netizens call, ironically, the poor man's gourmet food. Others opt to become long-term For example, Shanghai's Bulgari is transforming its luxury rooms into apartments to stay afloat. What were beacons of China's rising wealth are now traces of overbuilding, overconfidence, and economic winds against it, from ruins valued in billions to luxury suites The collapse of the hotel boom in China is a clear warning. Ambition has surpassed reality. And now, silence fills the vestibules that once were full of life.