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Finding a new man to take home for the holidays proved surprisingly easy for Lily Li. He had to be reliable, taciturn – and available for a few hundred yuan.
對于李麗麗（音譯）來說，找個新男友回家過年竟然是件很簡單的事。他必須可靠、沉默寡言，另外價錢要在幾百元左右。
"I was not looking for some perfect guy to marry. Just someone tall – my parents like tall guys a lot – honest and not too talkative, so he doesn't say something wrong," explained the 26-year-old.
“我不是想找個那種可以談婚論嫁的完美男人。只要高一點就好了，我父母喜歡個子高的。要誠實，而且不要太健談，不會說錯話。” 26歲的她這樣說道。
The coming unar new year is China's biggest festival. It can also be a major headache for those returning home without a potential spouse. Pressure on young adults to settle down goes into overdrive, as gathering family members begin the inquisition and line up possible candidates.
馬上開始的農歷新年是中國最大的節日。對于那些沒有潛在伴侶可以帶回家的人來說，這也是一個很讓人頭疼的節日。大家族的成員團聚在一起，親戚朋友開始“審問”，列出一個個可能的結婚候選人，這讓年輕人蒙受了過重的結婚壓力。
Taking a boyfriend or girlfriend home is a fast way to curb the speculation, which is why Li, like other twentysomethings, has hired a fake partner through an online agency.
帶上一個男朋友或女朋友回家過年，這能迅速扼殺親友的猜測。因此，李麗麗和其他二十多歲的人一樣，通過網上代理雇人冒充男朋友。
"My parents want me to get married by 30," the office worker explained. "Bringing a 'boyfriend' back home simply means I get less hassle from relatives and my parents will stop worrying about my romantic life."
“我父母希望我30歲之前結婚，” 這位辦公室職員解釋道。“帶一個‘男友’回家就意味著我的親戚不會總煩著我，父母不用擔心我的感情問題。”
One man touting his services on Taobao – a popular online shopping site – said a "basic programme" of meeting parents and visiting relatives would cost 300 yuan a day.
一個在淘寶網上售賣該服務的人說，見父母走親戚這樣的“基本服務項目”每天300元。
But, perhaps half-jokingly, he offered optional extras including doing chores (for 70 yuan an hour) and drinking China's lethal baijiu spirit with relatives (at 50 yuan per 100ml). Few "couples" will have to share bedrooms – families tend to be conservative in that regard – but some advertisers spell out the non-sexual nature of the deal, to avoid misunderstanding.
不過也許是半開玩笑，他又加上了其他可選服務，包括干家務活（每小時70元）還有和親戚喝白酒（每100毫升50元）。很少部分“情侶”需要同室而睡，一般中國家庭在這個方面比較保守。但為了避免誤會，一些提供租賃服務的人明確說明生意跟性無關。
Hu Xingdou, a social commentator at the Beijing Institute of Technology, suggested that the trend for hiring fake partners had emerged from a clash between old and new ideas.
北京理工大學的社會評論員胡星斗提出，租男女朋友回家過年這個趨勢是新舊思想碰撞產生的。
Increasing materialism and the pressures of Chinese life made it harder for young people to find a partner, while parents still expected their children to marry young, he said.
他說，中國人漸趨崇尚物質，生活壓力增大，這讓年輕人的擇偶變得更加困難。而另一方面，父母卻仍然希望子女能盡早結婚。
But it may also reflect another enduring Chinese belief: the importance of being filial. Many people are reluctant to upset their parents by confronting them and would rather pretend to conform.
不過這也許也反映了另一個長久以來的觀念：重視孝道。很多人不愿違抗父母，讓他們失望，而是寧愿假裝順從父母的意愿。
