On the streets and online, China’s elderly people search for love

In the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, elderly people gather at a matchmaking corner to search for a partner. Despite facing age discrimination, they remain hopeful about pairing up with someone who can keep them company. Their search reflects a wider problem of elderly loneliness, in a nation where roughly one-quarter of older adults experienced such emotions to varying degrees, according to research done in 2024.