‘Find a job and man’: Desperate mum in China goes on TV to beg daughter with 6 cats to marry

A 70-year-old Chinese woman has begged a local TV station for help as she is “extremely worried” about her single and unemployed 38-year-old daughter who spends her time posting videos of her six cats online.

The daughter has a degree from a top university and worked in Beijing and Shanghai, but several years ago quit her job and returned to her hometown of Chongqing, southwestern China, Chongqing TV reported.

The woman’s mother, surnamed Zhang, said her daughter had been unemployed for more than six years. She said her daughter, who is her only child, had not dated since she graduated from university.

“My husband and I are extremely worried about her situation. We can’t eat or sleep well,” Zhang said.

“We hope she can, like most other people, find a job and a man to marry. If so, we can leave this world happily and without any concern.”

The woman’s parents have been supporting their daughter financially since she came home, having bought her an apartment to live in. However, they recently discovered their daughter had sold the flat without telling them.

The daughter, whose name was not released, now rents an apartment near her parents’ home. She has adopted six stray cats and posts videos of them on social media regularly.

Zhang said although her daughter lives near her, she feels there is a great distance between them because she does not understand her daughter’s life choices.

“She picked up these stray cats and lives with them. Does she plan to rely on those cats for the rest of her life?” Zhang said.

The mother said she often weeps about her daughter’s situation. She has tried to persuade her daughter to find a job or a boyfriend but said her daughter refused to listen to her.

“It’s a big headache for me and my husband,” she said. “We have to bear this emotional pain by ourselves and cannot share it with our friends because it is an embarrassing matter for us.”

Chongqing TV managed to interview the daughter over the telephone, as she refused to appear in front of a camera.

“The old generation has a different mindset from the younger generation. I have tried to communicate with her. But do you think I can persuade her?” the daughter said.

The daughter said she is a pet vlogger, and although she is not making any money now, she believes she can earn enough to support herself in the future.

She said she is not anxious about being unmarried and was not desperate to find a man for the sake of it.

“I will not force myself to accept a relationship that I don’t really like. If I happen to meet my Mr Right, it’s okay. I won’t join any blind date activities,” the daughter insisted.

She said she still respects her parents, despite their disagreements, and said she rents a unit in a building next to her parents so that she can visit them regularly.

“No matter what I say, they just think my living style is not correct,” said the daughter. “They think it’s wrong for me not to work or date. Also, they don’t understand why I keep pets.”

The story was among the top news items on search engine Baidu.com on Monday (Aug 1) and had been viewed more than four million times on video app Douyin.

“It’s fine that you become a vlogger or remain single. But the thing is that you can’t be a ‘biting-old tribe’. You can live an ideal life but you need to support yourself first,” commented one person on Weibo.

The mainland Chinese term “biting-old tribe” means “parasite singles” – unmarried adults who rely on their parents financially.

“Don’t worry Grandma Zhang. You will find that gradually many young people across the country are becoming like your daughter,” another person commented.

China’s younger generations often complain that they are under pressure from family to get married. As a result, many people working in big cities hesitate to go back to their hometowns during holidays because they will be pushed into going on blind dates.