xin'an village, hanzhong, china -- with no eligible women in his village, zhou pin, 27 years old, thought he was lucky to find a pretty bride whom he met and married within a week, following the custom in rural china.
ten days later, cai niucuo vanished, leaving behind her clothes and identity papers. she did not, however, leave behind her bride price: 38,000 yuan, or about $5,500, which mr. zhou and his family had scrimped and borrowed to put together.
when mr. zhou reported his missing spouse to authorities, he found his situation wasn't unique. in the first two months of this year, hanzhong town saw a record number of scams designed to extract high bride prices in a region with an oversupply of bachelors.
the fleeing mrs. zhou was one of 11 runaway brides -- hardly the isolated case or two that the town had seen in years past. the local phenomenon has fueled broader speculation among officials that the fast-footed wives may be part of a larger criminal ring.
"she called me soon after she left," says mr. zhou, a slight man with a tentative smile. he says she asked how he was doing, and apologized for the hardship she had caused. "i told her, 'i will see you again one day.' "
thanks to its 30-year-old population-planning policy and customary preference for boys, china has one of the largest male-to-female ratios in the world. using data from the 2005 china census -- the most recent -- a study published in last month's british journal of medicine estimates there was a surplus of 32 million males under the age of 20 at the time the census was taken. that's roughly the size of canada's population.
now some of these men have reached marriageable age, resulting in intense competition for spouses, especially in rural areas. it also appears to have caused a sharp spike in bride prices and betrothal gifts. the higher prices are even found in big cities such as tianjin.
a study by columbia university economist shang-jin wei found that some areas in china with a high proportion of males have an above-average savings rate, even after accounting for factors such as education levels, income and life-expectancy rates. areas with more men than women, the study notes, also have low spending rates -- suggesting that many rural chinese may be saving up for bride prices.
curbing consumption in hopes of connubial pleasure is increasingly the norm in xin'an village, or new peace village, a lushly verdant spot with 14,000 people, located in central china's shaanxi province. the village has over 30 men of marriageable age, but no single women.
as in other parts of the country, village customs dictate the groom's family pay the bride's family a set amount -- known as cai li -- while the bride furnishes a dowry of mostly simple household items.
in the 1980s, before the start of china's economic reforms, cai li sums were small.
"when i married, my husband just bought me several sets of clothes," recalls zhang shufen, mr. zhou's mother.
in the 1990s, cai li prices rose to several thousand yuan (about $200 to $400 at today's conversion rates), mirroring the country's growing prosperity. but it was only starting in 2002-03 that villagers noticed a sharp spike in cai li prices, which shot up to between 6,000 to 10,000 yuan -- several years' worth of farming income.
not coincidentally, this was also the period when the first generation of children since the family-planning policy was launched in 1979 started reaching marriageable age.
so the normally frugal xin'an villagers began saving even more in anticipation of rising wedding costs. while the zhous are fairly well-off by village standards, they had been scrimping for years, growing their own vegetables and eating mainly rice and noodles, with little meat. the family had curbed spending in anticipation of wedding costs for their son who was working in southern chinese factories. the hope was that he would return with a prospective mate in tow.
but when the younger mr. zhou returned home a year ago, he was still single. "in our village, when a boy is older than 24, 25, it is a shame on him for not marrying," says his mother.
last december a family friend told his mother that her nephew recently married a girl from neighboring sichuan province. the bride had three female friends visiting her, who might be interested in marrying local men, said this friend.
encouraged, mr. zhou and his mother met the three girls the next day. after an hour's chat with the trio, who claimed to be ages 23, 25 and 27, mr. zhou found himself drawn to the prettiest and youngest, ms. cai, who had angular features and an ivory complexion.
he proposed marriage. she agreed, with one proviso: cai li of 38,000 yuan, or roughly five years' worth of farm income. the zhous agreed, but took the precaution of running a quick background check. tang yunshou, xin'an's communist party secretary, said ms. cai's identity and residential papers checked.
three days later the couple registered their union at the local registrar's office. they posed for studio shots, with the bride in a creamy satin gown, the groom in a tuxedo. in one shot, they wear traditional garb, the bride pretending to light a string of firecrackers. mr. zhou mugs a grimace, hands to his ears.
they held the wedding banquet a week later, on jan. 4, where mr zhou's mother formally handed over the dowry -- half of it loans from family members -- to a woman she believed to be ms. cai's cousin.
the new bride took up residence with her in-laws, and quickly found favor with her diligent and respectful ways, said mrs. zhou. "i treated her better than my own daughter," she said. a red electric scooter, with ribbons on the handles, sits in the living room, a wedding present for ms. cai.
matrimony was catching. two neighbors sought ms. cai out, and asked her to act as matchmaker for their sons. ms. cai recommended two girls within a few days. the neighbors each paid 40,000 yuan in cai li.
on jan. 28, all these brides vanished, leaving the villagers reeling.
while there are no nationwide statistics, wedding scams have occurred before, but usually isolated cases. mr. tang, xin'an's communist party secretary, says he has never before seen such clusters of cases. most of the 11 families involved lost an average of 40,000 yuan. officials consider these to be fraud cases. so if caught, the women could serve jail time, according to police.
meanwhile, mr. zhou is still lovelorn. "i feel i can't hate her," says the deserted husband, who is now so depressed his parents have forbidden him to leave the village, as he longs to. "she must have her own troubles."
家住中国汉中新安村的周品（音译），今年27岁，由于村里没有年龄适合的未婚女性，能找到一个漂亮的新娘，周品感到自己很幸运。而他们从见面到按中国农村的习俗完婚只用了不到一个星期。
十天之后，蔡妞厝（音译）不见了，留下了她的衣服和身份证，但带走了彩礼： 3.8万元人民币，约5 500美元，这些钱是周先生和他的家人省吃俭用攒出来的，其中还有一部分是东挪西借才凑齐的。
当周先生向当地公安机关报案时，他发现遇到此类情况的并非他一个人。今年头两个月，汉中市发生了多起骗婚案件，这些案件多是经过精心设计在单身男子过剩地区骗取高额彩礼。
周太太是11个落跑新娘之一，在过去几年里汉中市不只发生过一两起骗婚案件。 当地的现象已引发官员的广泛猜测，他们认为这些来去匆匆的新娘背后可能是一个更大的犯罪集团。
体型瘦弱的周先生略带勉强微笑地说： “她离开后不久给我打了电话”。她问他最近过的怎么样，并对她给周先生造成的困苦表示歉意。“我告诉她， 总有一天我会再见到你。 ”
由于30年的计划生育政策和重男轻女的习俗，中国成为世界上男女的比例最大的国家之一。 英国医学杂志在上个月发表了一份研究报告（该报告利用了2005年中国最新人口普查数据），估计在2005年人口普查时20岁以下男性过剩数量在3200万，这大致相当于整个加拿大的人口数。
现在这些男性中有一部分已经达到结婚年龄，这就造成争夺配偶的激烈竞争，尤其是在农村地区。 这似乎也成为彩礼金额急剧攀升的导火索。 高额的彩礼在诸如天津这样的大城市也屡见不鲜。
哥伦比亚大学经济学家魏尚金在一项研究中发现，在中国男性比例高的地区，即使在算上教育水平，收入和预期寿命等因素的情况下，其储蓄率仍高于平均水平。 该报告指出，在男性多于女性的地区，消费率也相对低，这意味着许多中国农民通过省吃俭用为儿子攒钱娶媳妇。
平时控制花销，希望结婚时能喜喜庆庆已日益成为新安村，或新和平村村民的共识。草木繁茂的新和平村位于中国中部的陕西省，拥有1.4万人口。 村里有超过30名达到结婚年龄的男子，但没有一个适龄的单身女性。
和中国的其他地区一样，农村习俗决定新郎要给新娘一笔钱，称为彩礼。而新娘要提供嫁妆，其中多数是简单的家庭用品。
20世纪80年代，中国经济改革开始之前， 彩礼数额很小。
“我结婚时，丈夫只给我买了几套衣服， ”周先生的母亲张淑芬回忆说。
到了20世纪90年代， 彩礼上涨到几千元人民币（以今天的汇率算，约200至400美元） ，这反映了国家的日益繁荣。但是，从2002-03年度开始，村民注意到彩礼金额从6000飙升至10000万元，相当于一户农民几年的农业收入。
并非巧合的是，这也是1979年实施计划生育政策以来，第一代子女开始达到适婚年龄的时期。
因此，一向俭朴节约的新安村民要为预期继续上涨的婚礼开销节省更多的钱。 虽然周先生家的经济情况按农村的标准还算过得去，但他们多年来一直也要省吃俭用，自己种蔬菜，主要吃大米和面条，很少吃肉。 家庭控制开支就是为了能给在南方打工的儿子准备婚礼的费用。而家里对儿子的希望就是他能带个准儿媳回来。
可是，一年前当周先生回到家时，他还是单身。 “在我们村里，一个男人二十四、五岁还没有结婚是很丢人的事情。”他的母亲说。
去年12月，一个朋友对他母亲说，她的侄子最近娶了一个从四川省临近地区来的女孩。 新娘有三个女朋友来探望她，她们也很想嫁给当地的男子。
在这个朋友的劝说下，周先生和他的母亲第二天就见了这三个女子。 经过与三人近一个小时的交谈，周先生了解到她们的年龄分别是23，25和27岁，其中最年轻的是一位姓蔡的小姐，她体型苗条，皮肤白皙，周先生对这位年轻漂亮的蔡小姐很是着迷。
周先生向蔡小姐求婚，她表示同意，但有一个条件，就是要3.8万元的彩礼，粗略算起来这相当于他家5年农业收入。最后周先生同意了，但为了安全起见他核实了女方的身份背景。新安村党委书记唐韵寿说该女子的身份和居住信息都核实过了，没有问题。
三天后，这对夫妇在地方注册部门登记结婚。 他们还照了很多不同造型的婚纱照。有妻子穿着乳白色缎子长袍，丈夫穿着燕尾服的。还有一张是他们都穿着传统服装，新娘假装点燃一连串鞭炮，周先生则用手捂住了耳朵，表现出害怕的样子。
一个星期后， 也就是1月4日，他们举行了婚礼。周先生的母亲正式将彩礼（彩礼中一部分是从亲戚那借来的）交给了被认为是女方亲戚的女人。
新娘与公婆住在一起，很快就博得了公婆的好感，说她是个既勤快又有礼貌的媳妇。“我对她比我自己的女儿还好”，周母说道。 停放在客厅里的红色电动车是公婆买给儿媳的结婚礼物，把手处还系着丝带。
看到周家的婚礼，两个邻居找到新媳妇小蔡，要她为他们的儿子当红娘。没过几天小蔡就给邻居介绍了两个姑娘，每家邻居支付彩礼四万元 。
1月28日，这些新娘集体失踪，村民困惑不已。
虽然没有全国性的统计数据，但骗婚在以前就时有发生，不过通常是孤立案件。新安党委书记唐先生说，他以前从未见过这么多的案例同时发生。受害家庭中大部分的平均损失在40000元左右。警方认为这些属于诈骗案件。 因此，这些涉案妇女一旦被抓获，将会受刑罚。
与此同时，周先生仍然处在失恋的痛苦中。 “我对她就恨不起来，她一定有自己的苦衷”，被遗弃的丈夫说。周先生现在情绪的非常低落，很想离开村子，可他的父母不允许他这么做。