A Chinese grandfather who offered a 100,000 yuan reward if his grandson could find a partner similar to a celebrity he saw on a poster has delighted mainland social media.

The grandson, surnamed Wang, took his grandfather to a coffee shop in Zhengzhou in eastern China’s Henan province on Nov 6.

Inside, there was a poster of the mainland celebrity, Ju Jingyi, a former member of the pop group SNH48.

During their conversation, the grandfather gestured towards the poster and said: “If you can find someone like her, there would be no need to be picky”.

Wang agreed and said: “If I can find a girlfriend like her, I won’t have any other requirements.”

Later, Wang recounted the coffee shop encounter to his family in their WeChat group, which led to a consensus among his relatives that the grandfather “has a good eye”.

The family even encouraged the grandfather to visit a matchmaking corner in a local park more often and look for girlfriends for Wang.

“My grandfather promised me a 100,000-yuan red envelope as motivation to find a nice partner. He wants me to get married soon so they can have great-grandchildren,” Wang said.

In their family group chat, the grandfather outlined his simple wishes for his grandson’s future partner.

“It doesn’t matter if she is a celebrity, as long as you find someone who can eat, drink with you and knows to come home when it rains. If you do, I’ll reward you with 100,000 yuan ,” said the grandfather.

Wang’s grandmother added: “Don’t be too picky. I’ll give you an extra 50,000 yuan if you find someone who can live a good life with you.”

Wang’s aunt also joined in, saying: “Hurry up and find someone!”

In response to his family’s overwhelming push to get married, Wang told Wutong Video: “I will try harder and strive not to disappoint the expectations of my elders.”

The story has touched many on mainland social media.

One person said: “Having a grandfather like this is a genuine blessing. I am so envious.”

“I want to find a partner, so why can’t my family encourage me like this?” said another.

A third person was intrigued by the reward: “If that man offered me 100,000 yuan , I would get married immediately.”

As more young people embrace new dating lifestyles and choose to remain single, China’s marriage rate has reached a historic low, declining from 13.5 million marriages in 2013 to just 6.8 million in 2022.

In January, a trending online video featured a father from Hunan province, southern China, urging his daughter, 29, to get married.

“We won’t ask for a bride price, just get married, and I’ll give you 20,000 yuan as a gift,” he said.

 - SCMP