yih has posed for a set of photos in a flowing white dress, enlisted a wedding planner and rented a banquet hall for a marriage celebration with 30 friends. But there is no groom. Chen will marry herself. “Age thirty is a prime period for me. My work and experience are in good shape, but I haven't found a partner, so what can I do?” Chen said. “It's not that I'm anti-marriage. I just hope that I can express a different idea within the bounds of a tradition.” Taiwanese women are marrying later and less often as their economic status advances, fueling government concerns about a drop in the birth rate and its impact on productivity. Only 40 percent of women surveyed earlier this year by the Education Ministry said they imagined married people could live better than singles, local media said. “I was just hoping that more people would love themselves,” said Chen, who will go on a solo honeymoon to Australia. But as Chen cannot officially register a marriage to herself, if she finds a man later she will wed again.
