As a way of skirting Chinese laws, people in Beijing are marrying strangers to get their hands on a license plate. And with cars seen as a valued status symbols by the middle class, sham marriages are making men more appealing suitors for real marriages in the country’s imbalanced dating scene.

China’s middle class is plagued with anxiety powerful enough to lose sleep over. While more affluence means that people are less worried about affording the basics, it’s freeing their time up for personal development – and it’s this new quest that’s stressing them out.

In China, calling someone a diaosi – which directly translates as ’penis hair’ – isn’t an insult. On the contrary, millions of Chinese in dead-end jobs, with no car, house or girlfriend identify with the term, wearing it as a badge of honour. But could self-deprecation be a danger to society?

For the last decade, Chinese magazines, sites and government bodies have been labelling unmarried women over 27 as sheng nu –‘leftover women’ – in a bid to counter a social trend seen as destabilising society. But who are these leftover women? And why should brands be paying attention to them?