ABSTRACT
At present, Chinese society is going through a looming crisis in the form of the problem of “bare branches.” The growing gender imbalance has attracted the attention of researchers, policy makers and the whole of society. This chapter starts with the problem of the difficulties of finding a bride in rural China. The abnormal sex ratio has caused serious problems and led to a male marriage squeeze. Rural males, especially, face the challenge of prolonged singlehood. Regional variation theory in the rural areas is based on the differences of the social structure and the consequent differences in peasant identification and action units, intergenerational relationship, sibling relationship and family division patterns. The chapter focuses on the social life of “bare branches”. With social changes, the importance of having sons is downplayed in some of the regions.
