A staff member (1st L) distributes publicity materials about prevention and control measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus at Huatai Township in Wuxi County, southwest China's Chongqing, Jan. 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Huang Wei)

Feng Yan, 24, never thought he could avoid the annoying blind dates his parents arranged for him on the Chinese New Year holiday because of the novel coronavirus epidemic.

The virus, having caused 17,335 confirmed cases and 361 deaths across the country as of 7 pm Monday, has kept Chinese people indoors for days. 

The government discourages any forms of parties, gatherings and visits to reduce the potential risks of transmission and infection.

A few parents including Feng's had to drop the idea of arranging blind dates for their single adult children this holiday. 

"This is probably the only benefit the virus has brought me so far," Feng joked.

A New Year's Eve blind date

Nonetheless, some parents insist on arranging blind dates for their single children in spite of the spread of the coronavirus.

Anxious Chinese parents have long regarded the New Year vacation, a time when numerous unmarried migrant workers return home and reunite with their families, as the best time of year for matchmaking for their kids.

Yan Jipeng, 27, was forced to date a woman on New Year's Eve in his hometown in East China's Fujian Province.

Yan recalled the morning he was dragged to the woman's home. Accompanied by relatives including his parents, elder sister, uncle and aunt, he stiffly sat beside her sister in the living room and kept silent most of the time.

None of them wore medical masks during the 30-minute meeting. "My parents believed that being infected is such a rare event that it won't happen to us," Yan told the Global Times.

Working for a tobacco company in Shanghai, Yan said he has little opportunity to meet the opposite sex in daily life. But he still wanted to look for a girlfriend himself instead of one being arranged for him.

"I'm not tall, and I prefer girls with small figures," said the 170-centimeter man. "But my parents always introduce me to girls above 170 centimeters, which doesn't fit my taste at all."

The woman Yan met at the blind date was also taller than him. They were asked to add each other's WeChat account at the end of the date, but have never talked since then.

"We have no chemistry," Yan said.

Moving online

Fearing the spread of the virus, some parents turn the face-to-face blind dates to online ones.

Jessie, 30, told the Global Times that she had a video call with a young man during the holiday under the eyes of her parents. 

"It was awkward," she recalled. "It was like having an online job interview or attending my company's video conference."

Jessie's mother had arranged the blind date for her before she returned home to Central China's Hunan Province from Beijing this vacation. If there was no epidemic, Jessie should have "had a meal and watched a movie" with the man at her mother's request.

The date was finally canceled, but Jessie' mother didn't give up. She dragged Jessie to the laptop camera and, as Jessie described, "monitored" her talking with the man.

Yan's parents are planning another blind date for him. As the number of confirmed infected cases keeps growing, this time they may arrange the date online.

Yan said he will obey his parents and participate although he is not interested at all.

"It (attending a blind date) is just a small thing," he said. "Don't displease your parents during the short days of family reunion."

Over 84 percent of Chinese single adults have the experience of being urged to get married soon, according to a report released by matchmaking website zhenai.com in August 2018.

Facing the pressure, more than 80 percent of people surveyed said they could understand their parents, but only 44 percent would obediently attend a blind date their parents arranged, the report said.