Caili, or the betrothal gift a man usually gives to the bride's family, has become a heavy financial burden for men who want to get married. A court in Liu'an, East China's Anhui province, recently heard a case for returning the gift money of 120,000 yuan ($18,784) to a man's parents after he committed suicide. The young man in Houqiu, an impoverished county in Anhui province, ended his life by jumping off a building in February after paying the caili to his betrothed's family.

Committing suicide for not being able to cope with the financial pressure of getting married may be an isolated case, but there have been occasional media reports about would-be bridegrooms' violent confrontations with their parents-in-law over the latter demanding huge amounts of money as caili.

Ideally, what conditions should a Chinese woman set to marry a man?