Premarital Spying in Vogue

Premarital spying in vogue in Shanghai

SHANGHAI, Jan. 4 Residents in Shanghai are increasingly hiring detectives to investigate their prospective marriage partners before tying the knot, the Shanghai Daily reports.

A normal investigation will take one to two weeks, with detectives checking up on family background, education, criminal record, finances and health, the newspaper said. Some hired spies attempt to socialize with the person’s friends and co-workers to learn about his or her personality, and many take photographs or videos as evidence.

Some parents hire investigative services to check out their children’s fiancées, said Luo Tian, a manager at Da Shanghai Private Detective Investigation.

In a recent online poll to which 3,338 people responded, 1,908 said they would use investigative services because modern society had made people superficial and untrustworthy. The other 1,430 voters opposed them, saying marriage should be based on trust.

Liu Jun, a Shanghai psychologist, said online dating and chatting had weakened people’s ability to trust each other.