GUANGZHOU - About 60 percent of female college students say they want to marry sons from wealthy families, freeing themselves from years of hard work, a recent poll shows.

Yet instead of blindly loving wealth, the students are looking at men from the "rich second generation" who love them and would share a future with them, said Liu Shuqian, a professor of ethics at Guangzhou University.

The poll was carried out among 992 female students in Guangzhou by the Guangzhou Women's Federation and Guangzhou Women's Society earlier this year.

However, citing another poll, Liu said male college students dislike women chasing rich second-generation men, with 68 percent disapproving, Liu said.

Male students feel more lost and are facing greater pressure and challenges, especial financial pressures, than females, Liu said.

About 40 percent of female students say they intend to marry a man with an "iron bowl," namely one with a stable job, like a civil servant.

About 30 percent of female students weigh a successful marriage over success in their own career, with only about 3 percent choosing to stay single in the future.

About 58 percent say they like a man with strong prospects, and look at whether he cares about her, is smart or has good potential in his career, instead of just measuring his current wealth. Eighteen percent care only about their feelings when they stay with their partners, while 4 percent look just at the men's wealth and looks. Thirty percent say they can accept a man who is less successful than she is.

Xiao Yahong, a university student in Guangzhou, said compared with the rich second generation, she prefers a man with "high-potential stock" who is a few years older.

"The living environment in today's society gives money a very important position. It would be hard to buy an apartment and a car solely on your own. But if you are married well, you have an upper hand."

However, despite chasing a rich and caring man, if one is already in love a woman tends to forget a lot of things, Xiao said.

On loyalty, 11 percent say they would love only one man in their life, while 13 percent accept loving more than one man simultaneously. About 78 percent would not tolerate betrayal while 19 percent accept occasional disloyalty.

A majority of the respondents believe love and marriage are separable, the poll shows.

On weddings, most of those polled would say no to a "naked marriage," which refers to a wedding without a ceremony, no photo shoot, no honeymoon and even no wedding ring.

Forty percent of the polled female students say they are currently dating. As for cohabitation before marriage, 26 percent consider it normal, with the percentage higher among those in love, and 65 percent giving their understanding though they would not try it.

Although she is not living with a partner, Ren Yunyao, a university student in Guangzhou, said she can understand it. "Love is blind, even though a pair may not get married in the end."

Shen Shuhui contributed to this story

China Daily