Cai Li

That's dowry in Chinese. However, while we in the West think of dowry as being paid by the bride's family, that is not necessarily the case in China. Since China's population policy favors few children with boys being the desired sex, there is now a surplus - a fairly large surplus - of men of marriageable age. Therefore, dowries are usually paid by the groom's family. And with increasingly fewer women available for marriage, the price of a dowry has skyrocketed. It is now in the $6,000 range, which for most Chinese, especially those living outside of cities, is a good piece of change that usually takes several years of family saving.

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