Shanghai ( CNN ) -- Liu Jianle smiles as he spots a potential suitor for his recently divorced niece among a sea of white personal ads pegged to a board . Pencil in hand , he jots down the man 's details -- 33 years old , 1.7 meters tall ( 5 feet 7 inches ) , 140 pounds , a property owner , divorced but no kids . The only wrinkle is that his salary is $ 800 a month , not high by Shanghai standards . No matter , says Liu , his niece has a good job . Welcome to Shanghai 's marriage market . Each weekend , mothers , fathers and , in Liu 's case , concerned uncles , come to a sun-dappled corner of Shanghai 's People 's Park to find Mister or Miss Right for their children . Some write posters by hand listing their offsprings ' vital statistics -- height , age , income , education and their hukou or registered hometown -- and pin them to umbrellas or shopping bags . Others come with a notebook to see what is available . Liu is a veteran . He found his son a wife here and they 've been married for more than a year . `` She 's 1.69 meters tall ( 5 feet 6 inches ) and beautiful like a movie star , '' he says . `` He was happy to get the introduction . '' With young Chinese told to put education and work before finding love , many struggle to find boyfriends or girlfriends , a source of deep concern for their parents in a society which emphasizes the survival of the family line . Worried family members are joined by professional matchmakers , who try to make a living from the unusual gathering . The city even organizes an `` annual love and marriage expo '' to help young people find love that attracts 18,000 . `` A lot of kids who were born after 1980 , they do n't have siblings . So they grow up in an environment where you do n't have the experience to meet with people of the opposite sex , '' Song Li , the founder of an online dating service , told CNN at the event in May . The market has been around since 2004 , says Li , who runs a professional matchmaking service from the park . With almost three times as many women looking for partners than men , it can be difficult to make a successful match . Men can register for free , while she charges a fee of $ 500 for her female clients . She also has an age limit ; men born after 1970 can sign up , but women must be under 33 . `` There 's a shortage of superior men , '' she says by way of explanation . It 's a similar story at Fan Dongfang 's booth . He says he matches 20 to 30 people a year and brandishes a clutch of wedding invitations as if to prove it . He also has a glut of women on his books . `` There are too many leftover women in Shanghai , '' he says , using a popular term to describe an educated , single , urban women over the age of 27 . `` Their standards are too high . '' While the numbers stack up in favor of Chinese women -- according to the China Statistics Bureau , there are now 34 million more men than women in China -- this does n't mean they will pair up easily . Chinese men tend to `` marry down '' both in terms of age and educational level , observers say . Plus , many of China 's unmarried men live in the countryside . Distance is no obstacle to the parents ' matchmaking ambitions , nor is their children 's consent . One mother displays a handwritten A4-sized poster in a clear plastic wallet seeking a match for her 36-year-old daughter , who works as an accountant in Toronto . The market has an `` overseas corner '' for parents who have children living abroad . `` I ca n't give you my name because my daughter does n't know I 'm doing this and I do n't want her to find out , '' she says . `` I just want her to find someone with a stable job , who is tolerant and open-minded . '' Additional reporting by CNN 's Ivan Watson .
Each year , parents gather in Paris , to find names for their children . They list their offspring 's vital statistics -- height , age , weight , occupation and sex . Odds for a successful match , at least for parents with daughters , do not seem good .