Civil servants, couriers find dating most difficult

A courier en route to deliver packages in Beiing, Oct 11, 2014. [Photo/IC]

More than 10 billion express deliveries a year make the young couriers rank immediately after civil servants.

The couriers, mostly from rural areas, are often busy delivering packages on the annual Single's Day, a big online shopping festival due to the generous discounts offered by outlets.

It's their busy schedule that makes dating such a challenge for them.

Unlike busy and weather-beaten couriers, air stewards or stewardesses, ranked third in the survey, are usually fresh-looking and lead a jet-set life.

Behind their attractive appearance, the intense workload means they find it more difficult to meet the right person than people in other professions.

The fourth profession comprises of single writers and poets, such as Guo Jingming, the best-selling Chinese novelist and director of Tiny Times series, one of the most-watched Chinese films.

"Writers are finding it hard not only to maintain the quality of their family life, but also the quality of their writing, as less young people are buying and reading books. Besides, writers, or poets, tend to be solitary creatures, which makes it more difficult to find partners," said Zhang Yiyi.

Except for the top four professions of single men, the rest of the professions such as acting, programming, and immigrant workers all have their own reasons.