Liu Chang (left) takes part in a game with Roseann Lake (second from left) and others ahead of a practice session for The Leftover Monologues at a cafe in Beijing. [Photo/Agencies]

Leftover women or an unappreciated feast?

Easy Talk: 'Leftover women'

"I would really like if these monologues somehow forced a reappraisal of Chinese women in society," Lake says. "They are constantly being tallied, and their value on the marriage market is always fluctuating depending on age and on looks and on color of skin and size of eyes."

The financial stakes of marrying well have risen following China's economic boom and the development of its private-property market. In decades past, people were assigned residences by their workers' unit. Now many young people and their parents view marriage as a way to gain something - an apartment, a car or a coveted Beijing residence permit (hukou), which brings local health and education benefits.

Many young Chinese have no siblings because of the family planning policy, so they also feel the full weight of their parents' hopes and fears and pressure to deliver a grandchild.

That means many women and some men dread going home for Chinese New Year, the year's most important holiday, when parents - and sometimes relatives and neighbors - often ask why they aren't married yet.

Song Yanyan, 35, was surprised this year when after dinner her father's friend called her over for a talk and, in a grave tone, asked her if she was planning on being single her whole life.

She returned from working in the United States a year and a half ago and, after trying to find a boyfriend through her friends and friends' friends, signed up for an online dating service. Her experience with the service, and her surprise at the customer service center's offer to find her a man earning more than 500,000 yuan ($80,000) a year if she paid more than 10,000 yuan, is the subject of her monologue.

"Dating here is more like a negotiation," Song says. "You know this person not by who they are but by what they have", such as their own apartment and a Beijing hukou.