What on earth is up with this mentality here on HN? I get that most of the people here are in tech and making probably at minimum 70k right out of college, with the higher end ones making 100k out of college.

But surely you can't be serous? This 10k payment idea doesn't apply just to higher incom folks like you, this applies to a decent portion of the population there most of which is making less than 30k a year. 10k for someone who makes 100k in the USA is very diffirent than to someone making 30k in China.

Surely you are well aware that you are easily in the top percentile of the world regarding income, right?

Even for poorest people in rural areas in China, it’s still possible that they’d pay 10k usd “bride money”. 10k is really considered to be a lot in China for such matters. A wedding could also cost a lot more than that. When they say “a small amount”, they mean it

I can live with 10k 10 Month, in Munich. Money for 10 Month is never chump change.

To factor in, is it something that can be paid and then you forget about ever having economic ties again? Or will paying it simply create an expectation of getting more down the line?

Seems like this is a downvoted opinion, but I concur. Strange really, how much months/years of expenses would $10k get their family? Not much more than a few months I assume?

Depends. In rural China this is still a lot of money.

Not really. If they were really, really frugal, the most I could see that lasting is 2 years.

See another comment in this thread: "$10,000 is typical for bride-price in China and only a bit higher than average annual Chinese income. The Chinese do save more than 30% of their income so that is about three years of savings for average earners in China".

That seems more in line with my experience (and the $10,000 price is also something I've heard often). I could easily see my grandparents in law (who live in rural China) be able to live of $10k for three years, given that nothing exceptional happens.

I see what you're saying. I guess it depends on how people interpret "a lot." To me it would have to be at least 5x the average.

In rural China? I can live pretty comfortably on 10k for two years in an Austrian city with my cheap apartment and by abstaining from luxuries.