Shanghai: Ageing married women here are desperately¹ trying to hang on to their husbands by learning how better to please them.

According to Weiqing Marriage Services Co Ltd, more than 300 insecure women have signed up for a free course it will run in October.

The month-long "camp" aims to teach women how to "better manage their marriages", course manager Ming Li said.

"The training will include instruction on manners, apparel and, most importantly, how to deal with other people such as husbands, children, mothers-in-law and ex-wives," she said.

She did not say whether a similar course would be held for husbands.

Among the people to have signed up for the course are several soon-to-be wives, who are desperate to learn how to prevent problems in the future, Ming said.

The women who are already married just want to know how to stop their husbands from cheating on them with younger women, she said.

The course will include lectures from psychologists, sociologists and marriage consultants², Ming said, without saying whether the speakers would be men or women.

Most of the women who have signed up are aged³ between 35 and 55. "These women are starting to look old and some of their husbands are likely to be involved with pretty young girls," she said.

Some of them are "troubled" by the fact their husbands are cheating on them, she said.

Although China Daily did not speak to any of the women enrolled⁴ on the course, Ming said she had spoken to a self-confessed cheating husband, surnamed Wu.

"At first, I wasn't doing anything wrong," Wu said.

"But then I became so fed up with my wife accusing me of having an affair that I went out and got myself a mistress."

Some Chinese experts have said women should be aware they could easily lose their men. In China, 40-something men are in their prime, have flourishing careers and stable incomes, an anonymous⁵ expert said.

Wives at that age are no longer attractive, as they are fat and have saggy⁶ skin, he said.

Gu Jun, a sociology professor at Shanghai University, said: "Chinese women usually take the subordinate position in their marriages, but why is the camp only for women, and not also for men?"

Ming also said another husband of one of the women who had signed up for the course complained that his wife did not follow "his lifestyle".

The 80-year-old said he did not like seeing his wife exercising and dancing with friends in the community yard.

Questions:

1. How many women have already signed up for the course?

2. How long will the camp last for?

3. What did some anonymous experts say was a concern for married women after the age of 35?

Answers:

1. 300.

2. 1 month.

3. That they could easily lose their men because in China, 40-something men are in their prime, have flourishing careers and stable incomes, whereas wives at that age are no longer attractive, as they are fat and have saggy skin.