Niu Zhizhong (an alias), 31, lives alone in a poor rural village in Guan County, Shandong Province.

Over a decade, he managed to scrape up enough money to build a house to improve his chances in the marriage market in face of a bride shortage caused by gender imbalance.

Niu Zhizhong (an alias), 31, lives alone in a poor rural village in Guan County of China's Shandong Province after his Vietnamese "bride" left. [Photo/Jinghua.cn]

Like many Chinese singles, Niu looked south for "economical" partner and he was introduced to a Vietnamese woman who agreed to marry him but only if he gave her 65,000 yuan (about US$10,200 ) as betrothal gifts.

The woman, using the name of Wang Xiaolan and allegedly 38 years old, is said to come from a Vietnamese border town separated by a strip of water from China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. She told Niu that she had a five-year-old daughter and had left the family for fear of violence from her ex-husband.

Niu Zhizhong (an alias), 31, shows the purse of his Vietnamese "wife" to the reporter. [Photo/Jinghua.cn]

Reflecting on his own conditions as a poor villager without deep pockets to be able to marry a Chinese young lady demanding a new house, car and considerable wealth, Niu thought this Vietnamese woman could give him a loving family he craved for long. The bachelor borrowed almost 40,000 yuan and took the woman home the next day.

A short-lived 'marriage'

The 10-month co-habitation of Niu and his Vietnamese wife were marked by frequent disappearances shrouded in mystery.

On the third day after they began living together, Wang Xiaolan disappeared with Wang Ping, another Vietnamese "newlywed" in the village.

Their "husbands" thought of reporting the matter to the police but hesitated over fear of potential allegations of human trafficking.

A couple of months later, however, before the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2013, the vanishing "bride" returned home. She explained she had gone back to her hometown for farm work.

The Vietnamese proved to be an obedient and hardworking wife during their short-lived "romance" but she refused to register for marriage. She also kept making mysterious phone calls every day on flimsy excuses.

On April 14, 2014, Wang Xiaolan left again with another 5,000 yuan (about US$ 787.5) she had sought from Niu. In total, the Vietnamese took 70,000 yuan (about US$ 11,025) from the poor bachelor.

An organized ring

Wang Xiaolan was arrested a fortnight later on marital fraud allegations. According to the police, she was actually 55, so 26 older than Niu, when they first met, and was head of an "organized ring" introducing Vietnamese women to Chinese bachelors in rural areas.

During her short-lived "marriage" with Niu, she introduced at least 18 Vietnamese women to local men with requests for expensive betrothal gifts; these women, in turn recommended other women to join the profitable business.

More and more men turned to finding overseas spouses, especially Vietnamese women, as the costs of marrying a Chinese girl continues to climb. [Photo/nen.com.cn]

Most of them, and some other Vietnamese women in nearby counties, all disappeared around the same time as Wang's disappearance. Part of a scheme defrauding lonely men out of almost one million yuan (US$ 157,400), they were sentenced to several years in prison.

The gender gulf

Among the vast army of surplus males trying to find a female partner, Niu is not alone. The news that China will be home to 24 million excess bachelors in 2020 has caused panic among the country's young men.

According to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, there were 115.88 boys born for every 100 girls in 2014, a skewed gender ratio making it hard for poor bachelors like Niu to satisfy marital hankerings.

The marriage woe is resulted from a self-perpetuated demographic disaster that some experts describe as "gendercide", a phenomenon caused by the traditional preference of boys, exacerbated by families choosing to abort female fetuses after the introduction of ultrasound technology.

For bachelors in rural areas, the reality is much grimmer. "Many single women move to the big cities as migrant workers and get married there," said a director from the research office of the People's court in Guan County. "At face value, young women in the village are at a premium and they keep raising the bride price."

Lamenting the dwindling chances of finding a mate, more and more men turned to finding overseas spouses, only to find money cannot buy love.