School of Love
Issues like these have single guys scrambling for instruction on self-presentation.
"I want to be more mature and look like a grown man. I look like a high school boy right now," Anhui Province native Zhang Lekang told CGTN Digital.
Cui said nothing is overlooked when assessing clients and their concerns.
"You have to find out exactly what your customer wants. What's their core issue? What problem they need to have solved," he said.
Cui said students must not only listen to his advice but also use it in regards to how much they change their appearance and use the techniques learned.
Both schools told CGTN Digital that a big part of their students' success relies on the initial goals that are set for each of them.
Practice makes perfect
Zhang offers his students what he calls the most important advice.
"First, if you want to date a woman, you don't chase her, you attract her," Zhang told CGTN Digital. "Number two, improve yourself, and third, enrich your life experiences."
He said the key to improving yourself is in your appearance and style.
We witnessed students at both schools undergo significant changes that included getting new looks.
Once the students are dressed to impress, it's time to put their classroom lessons to practice.
In a crowded area of downtown Jinan, the students got their first assignment: approach women and ask for their WeChat contact.
WeChat is a key part of most social interactions in China. Nearly 1 billion people use the social media tool for everything from buying a latte to flirting with someone nearby.
One of the eager students tried his luck but was turned down.
Beijing students did not fare much better. Inside a busy shopping mall, some of the singles were hoping to use their newfound swagger to spark a love connection but ended up striking out.
The reason being
Many experts say China's dating conundrum is deeply rooted in the favoring of males due to social and economic factors. They said it is a result of the country's one-child policy, which was overturned in 2015, though its effects will last decades more.
Some critics think that instead of calling single women in China over the age of 27 "leftover," the term should be directed at single men.
The gender imbalance is making it hard for many men to find a partner – and the gap is likely to widen. Researchers project that by 2030, more than a quarter of Chinese men in their 30s will not be married.
People's Daily reported that according to China's health yearbook, from 1971 to 2012, 270 million cases of artificial abortions were registered, excluding the considerable amount of medical abortions.
These staggering statistics have many fearful of what the future holds for single men in China.
Health authorities have launched campaigns each year to clamp down on illegal prenatal gender tests and sex-selective abortions.
Bare branches
"The state is especially worried about the millions of surplus men in China," Xuan Li, assistant professor of psychology at NYU Shanghai said. "Typically rural and impoverished, these unwed men – upset 'bare branches' who are not able to add offshoots to their family tree – are considered a threat to social stability because of the financial, social and sexual frustration they face."
Many single guys in China are now hoping their "bare branches" reap the benefits of their hard labor, recognizing exactly what they have to do.
"The way you look, the way you see the world, the way you live and your horizon all largely influence who you are as a man," Liang said.
