Wuhanscape_Love Boat China

In Wuhan, China, a high-end matchmaking agency calls its approach “marriage headhunting.” Its staff seek women who fit the preferences of wealthy Chinese men, including entrepreneurs among the country’s newly rich. The city becomes a field of recruitment, where potential participants are found and invited to meet.

Dressed in polished clothes and approaching women with courteous manners, the agency’s “hunters” take their search into the streets. The selection begins with measurements: in staff meetings, an ideal woman’s calf is said to be thinner than an iPhone, her waist no wider than a sheet of A4 paper. The hunters approach women they consider suitable and invite them to the agency’s events.

At parties aboard a cruise ship on the Yangtze River, the women meet wealthy male clients. Some participants wear bikinis during the event. Matches made aboard the ship lead to private meetings afterward. Against the river and Wuhan’s skyline, courtship unfolds as a carefully staged process, shaped by physical standards, economic privilege, and the agency’s search for women who meet its clients’ expectations.