Rushing down the aisle

Li Liqun was 22 when she married her husband, Yan Wei, the summer between her junior and senior years in college. They chose to secretly marry, hiding their nuptials from both parents.

"My starting point was simple: I trusted my man and rushed to get married," Li said.

The couple went to the Miyun county bureau of civil affairs and, after filling in some forms and paying the 9-yuan ($1.45) registration fee, sealed their "naked"marriage, so named because it lacked a wedding ceremony. But when Li's mother found her hidden marriage certificate while cleaning one day, her secret was out in the open.

"She couldn't believe it and kept asking who I had married, even though she saw our names on the certificate," Li said. Parents from both families frantically prepared the young couple materially for adulthood, which in Chinese society means spending big on a wedding ceremony, apartment and car.

The legal age for marriage in China is 22 for men and 20 for women, the highest in the world. Most young Chinese, particularly in Beijing, have delayed marriage in recent years, opting to tie the knot or start a family after they have established their careers.

Bucking the trend

Marrying early in China remains relatively common in rural areas, but a steady number of university-educated couples in major cities are also choosing to walk down the aisle in their early 20s. Their reasons vary, but the vast majority attribute their decision to finding their soul mate early.

Earlier this year, news portal chinanews.com quoted Wu Bei, director of marriage registration at the Beijing municipal civil affairs bureau, as saying that in 2011 the average age people married was 27.8 for men and 26.2 for women, with the median age up almost one year from 2008.

"Couples in urban areas rarely marry early. This phenomenon is more common in rural areas," said Zhao Yongjiu, a marriage counselor at Love Wisdom, China's first love and marriage tutoring firm. "Young people in rural areas usually have family houses, so they can get married at an early age. In big cities, young couples face more pressure and usually prefer to endure this together for a few years before starting a family."

Couples who wed early encounter the same hurdles in marriage as older couples, such as bickering or personality clashes. But their inexperience can make dealing with these challenges more difficult, he said.

"When you marry early, your personality might still be developing and your heart can still run wild," Zhao said. "Before marriage, many people might have their hearts set on playing in the field for a couple more years. They crave an unrestricted life of freedom, meaning they might not be ready for marriage."

Dong Tianshu, a 21-year-old senior student at Beihang University, said he never considered early marriage because of his career ambitions. "I want to work for a research institute after I graduate," he said. "Such places usually have six-day working weeks. It would be too demanding to also be a husband."

Compromising career goals

Angela Zhang decided to marry aged 22 last year after she graduated from university. Ricardo Jia, her husband three years her senior, works for the Chinese embassy in Brazil.

"We didn't want to spend time apart, so we got married. We registered at the civil affairs bureau and skipped having a wedding ceremony," she said.

Zhang abandoned her original plan of job hunting in Beijing to accompany Jia for one year in Brazil, where she studied. She later returned to Beijing to prepare for national civil service exams and resume her career.

Even though she strayed from her original plan, Zhang rejects the myth that couples must choose between either an early marriage or stable career.

"There are a lot of compromises in marriage. It requires adjusting the timing and trajectory of your career so the two of you can be together," she explained. "I gave up a year for him and, when his posting to Brazil ends next year, he'll compromise by coming to Beijing for me."

However, Li believes there is an element of truth to the myth.

She and her husband were childhood friends, who found each other again during their college years. When they talked about their early friendship they felt a special bond that brought them closer together, Li said.

She originally aspired to be a journalist, but considering her husband is a doctor, she decided to pursue teaching so she could work more stable hours that accommodate for family life.

Too young for marriage?

At the 5th Session of the 11th National People's Congress, which ended on March 14, Huang Xihua, a representative from South China's Guangdong Province, suggested the legal marriage age be lowered to 18 years for both men and women.

Her suggestion stirred public debate over the implications of such a move, including a possible spike in the national divorce rate.

Xia Xueluan, a sociologist at Peking University, said entering marriage too early can cause problems due to couples' psychological immaturity.

"Even if they marry at the legal age, it really depends on each individual. Some might still appear to be too immature to get married and many delay marriage until they are in their mid- to late 20s," he said.

Liu Yanwu, a sociologist at Wuhan University, highlighted that problems also face men in rural areas aged over 26. In a November 16 lecture delivered at the university, she highlighted how growing costs attached to marriage mean most rural men need to save for up to seven years to be able to afford a wedding.

Li acknowledges she may have married in a hurry, saying she and her husband could have avoided some problems if they had taken more time. For example, her husband's addiction to video games became a point of friction and source of many arguments.

Nevertheless, she said her problems are nothing compared to the support and stability married life offers.

In her spare time, Li watches If You Are the One, a TV dating show produced by Jiangsu Television that has proven immensely popular nationwide since its premiere in January, 2010. She is often surprised to see young, educated male contestants with good jobs turned down by women on stage because they don't have material possessions or, in other words, are "not prepared for marriage."

Li said the secret to having a successful marriage is having faith in your partner.

"Many people in today's society expect a house or car with marriage, but it's nice to take a risk for a worthy relationship," Li said.