Pitch a tent in the subway to get a wife?

Subway riders eager to experience the glory of Shanghai's new line seven on Saturday were treated to a surprise: a man pitching a tent in the subway. No, we're not talking about your typical rush hour perverts: we literally mean he had a tent and pitched it, right in a subway car.

Why? He wanted to protest the fact that real estate prices are so high that he can't afford a new home. And if you don't have some property, Shanghai women aren't interested in marrying you. Sad, but true: housing prices have gone up to a startling 20,826 RMB per square meter, compared to an average disposable income of 26,680 RMB a year for locals. Instead of a house, the intrepid young bachelor decided to show off some of the qualities and possessions he can afford:

From Shanghai Daily:

His T-shirt read: "I am handsome as well as talented; I have no apartment but a brand new tent."

The man also posted two pieces of paper on the tent, which read: "The home price is too high and the girl's requirement is too high. I can have neither of them."

And: "I do not want to be deprived of the right to marriage because I have no apartment."

So many young men and women are in a bind: it's impossible to start a family without a place to start it in. And with younger workers struggling to find jobs, it's become a wide-reaching problem: you know it's serious when Chinese soap operas are using housing issues for plot twists. On the lighter side, we're still laughing at Shanghai Daily's article name: "Pitching a tent and a message." We're pretty positive that's the last thing a woman on the subway would want to hear.

Photo from Shanghai Daily