56-year-old man in China's famous 'Bachelor's Village' has never held hands

Wang Erhu, a 56-year-old man from Lao Ya village (Yuexi county, Anhui province, eastern China), said he has lived more than half his life but has never been in love, has never known the feeling of holding a girlfriend's hand, and has never thought about getting married.

"Even if we wanted to get married, no girl here would marry us. We are all used to living alone," said Mr. Vuong.

Đàn ông ở 'Làng độc thân' nổi tiếng Trung Quốc 56 tuổi chưa một lần nắm tay - Ảnh 1. — Many men in Lao Ap village have even "forgotten" about getting married. (Photo: 163)

According to 163 News Agency, Lao Ap village is given a special title - "Village of bachelors". As of 2023, the village's population is about 1,600 people, including 112 unmarried men between the ages of 30 and 55, accounting for 7% of the total population. Not to mention single people from the age of 20.

Some men in the village have not found a partner because of difficult family circumstances, physical disabilities or other reasons.

Besides, life in Lao Ap village is not easy. Located in a remote mountainous area, transportation is inconvenient and infrastructure is backward. Therefore, most of the women in the village go to big cities to study and work, not wanting to return. Some of them also bring their husbands and children from the city.

Because Lao Ya village is relatively poor, no one from other villages is willing to marry here. Therefore, getting married has become the lifelong goal of local men.

Đàn ông ở 'Làng độc thân' nổi tiếng Trung Quốc 56 tuổi chưa một lần nắm tay - Ảnh 2. — Lao Ap village is located in a remote mountainous area with inconvenient transportation. (Photo: 163)

The story of being single has made Lao Ya village famous in China. Besides sympathetic opinions, there are also many comments criticizing the men in the village for lacking the will to strive, being too easily satisfied with reality, which makes the village unable to escape poverty and forms a "tradition of being single".

One netizen commented: "Why do they have to stay in the village all their lives? Why can girls go out to work but young men can't? They can not only earn money, expand their social relationships and find girlfriends."

However, according to Vuong Nhi Ho, many men in the village go out to work, but many also stay in the village to take care of their elderly parents to fulfill their filial duties.

"At home there are only my parents and me, if I leave, who will take care of them?", Mr. Vuong said.

Sharing the same opinion, Hung Cat Can (43 years old) said he decided to stay in the village to take care of his uncle. In front of Hung's house, an old man wearing torn pants groped in a bowl of corn kernels that had turned dry and discolored.

“If I leave, he won’t be able to find food,” Hung said. “He won’t be able to afford a nursing home either.”

Mr. Hung said he had asked a matchmaker many times to find women to marry, but all were unsuccessful. "Through the matchmaker, some women came here to look around and then left because they had a bad impression of the conditions in the village."

Đàn ông ở 'Làng độc thân' nổi tiếng Trung Quốc 56 tuổi chưa một lần nắm tay - Ảnh 3. — Men's inability to marry leads to problems such as an aging population and labor shortage in Lao Ap village. (Photo: 163)

According to Sohu , to get to Lao Ap village, you have to drive slowly for an hour on a dirt road, then walk a short distance on a steep dirt road.

"Traffic here is too difficult. If it rains, we are almost isolated. Women do not like living in a place like this," said Mr. Hung.

Both Vuong Nhi Ho and Hung Cat Can said they have gotten used to and accepted the reality of being single, but do not deny that this has a negative impact on the village and society.

Mr. Thuong Thu Kinh, party secretary of Lao Ap village, said the existence of "bachelor villages" has led to problems such as aging population, labor shortage and social instability.

“There are no young people, no vitality and no innovation in our village. We are also worried that these single people will lose their way because of loneliness or be taken advantage of by some criminals,” he said.

Mr. Thuong added that to solve the problem in the single village, the local government has implemented a number of measures, such as upgrading roads, electricity, water and other infrastructure to increase the attractiveness of the village; organizing many cultural and entertainment activities to enhance exchanges between villagers; contacting some dating centers or relatives and friends to help singles find suitable partners.

"We hope that the men in the village can escape their single life as soon as possible and find their own happiness," said Mr. Thuong. "We also hope that Lao Ap village can be rejuvenated with new vitality."

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