High failure rate

There is also a high failure rate for second marriages, according to data from the courts.

In the past five years, nearly 70 percent of those aged 60 and older who remarried have divorced, according to Shanghai Jing'an district People's Court.

The divorce rate of the remarried group is 15 to 50 percent higher than for first marriages, according to data from the courts in Lixia and Shizhong districts and Pingyin county in Jinan city, Shandong province, which have been reviewing all the divorce cases in their districts during the past two years.

Wu said that his experience of blind dates has taught him that the high divorce rate is understandable.

"Some people's intentions are not pure; they just want romance and to travel around the world. A marriage based on those premises will undoubtedly fall apart," he said.

Part of the reason for the higher divorce rate among remarried couples is that they fail to consider the potential harm to their children, according to marital and family affairs experts, who pointed out that a second marriage is often radically different to the first.

"Those who remarry don't share a common background of growing up together as a young couple, who usually have a beautiful common vision of establishing a family and making plans for their children," said Shu.

"Seniors often have a private plan in their hearts when it comes to remarriage."

Contact the author at zhouwenting@chinadaily.com.cn