Love on the rocks: Inside China’s marriage counseling boom

Love on the rocks: Inside China’s marriage counseling boom

From a small office in Shanghai, marriage counselor Zhu Shenyong livestreams advice over several phones simultaneously to an attentive audience keen to save their relationships. On his wall hangs the mantra: "Let there be no bad marriages under heaven.“ But in the earthly realities of modern China, divorce rates are surging, and Zhu's services are in high demand. "I always say that Chinese marriage counseling is mostly like treating late-stage cancer,“ said Zhu, explaining the majority of his clients arrive in "absolute crisis“.

"Only a minority are considering divorce, but want advice on whether it's the right thing to do,“ said the indefatigable 44-year-old, who wears a flat cap during his streaming sessions. Earlier this year, Zhu went viral after claiming that he makes one million yuan ($154,000) a year. Now he pulls up to 500 viewers whenever he goes online, in a mission he describes as to "avoid unnecessary divorces“.

But Zhu is also a realist who strives to help couples find the softest landing as a relationship breaks up, for the sake of their children. The number of registered divorces in China reached a record 8.6 million in 2020 “” almost double the 2019 total and eclipsing the number of