26 Brides for 26 Bachelors

Men in Waimehe, a small mountain village in Chinas YunnanProvince/st1 :place>, are about to make a mass exodus.  Since the town only has 21 women, 13 of the town's 26 men can't find girlfriends.  As a result, they petitioned to county officials, and will be relocated to an area where they might have better luck with the ladies by the end of the year./span>

While this situation seems a bit far-fetched, in upcoming years, it might not be quite as unusual.  Worldwide, the birth ratio is about 105 males for every 100 females, but in China/st1 :country-region>, the ratio is closer to about 117 boys for every 100 girls.  Experts predict that by 2020, nearly 30 million Chinese men may be without brides, especially those in the rural areas./span>

The government has banned pre-natal gender selection, which should help to remedy this imbalance, and in some urban areas, girls are preferred.  Beyond these efforts, rural couples are able to have more than one child if their first one is a girl, which might also help balance the situation. /span>

Even Chinese population officials acknowledge that solving the gender imbalance at birth will take at least 10 to 15 years.  Of course, balancing the birth ratio still won't be enough to satisfy the desires of the growing numbers of single men.  /span>

Hopefully the Waimehe bachelors will have more options for love in another town.  If they don't, they can always follow the lead of Wu Jieqin, the 81-year-old who found love online.       /span>