Explainer | How China Dai women use chickens as matchmaking tool to find husbands, reject unwanted suitors
Women in 1.3 million-strong ethnic minority group use price of a cooked chicken, secret meetings in the woods to find the ideal partner
China’s Dai ethnic minority have an unusual way of making romantic connections.
Women make matches by taking chickens to the market during Dai New Year in the hope of attracting suitors, using the birds as matchmaking tools.
“Chicken as a Matchmaker” is the Chinese translation of a courtship custom practised by the Dai ethnic group in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province, southwestern China.
The Dai, whose estimated population is 1.3 million, primarily live in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and the Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan.
In the Dai language, the custom is called Yuesao, while the local Han people refer to it as Chuan guniang, which literally means “visiting girls”.