Unlucky in love? Never fear, big data is breaking down the mysteries of romance to help singles find their perfect, mathematical, match. Wang Chenxi, Quan Xiaoshu and Qu Ting of China Features take a look at what happens when one plus one equals two.
情场失意了吗？不要担心，大数据正在瓦解浪漫的神秘，从而帮助单身的人找到他们完美的确定无疑的另一半。
In Xiaofei's new home in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, the newly-married engineer hangs on the wall a very special picture - a screenshot of the dialog between him and his wife Aibi in an online game five years ago.
小飞（音）的新家在广东深圳，这位新婚的工程师在墙上挂着一幅非常特别的图片, 那是5年前他和妻子Aibi在一个网络游戏中对话的截图。
Thanks to the game, Xiaofei, who was then studying in Leipzig, Germany, got to know Aibi, who was then working in China. The two soon fell in love and Xiaofei later decided to go back to China to be with her.
多亏了这个游戏，在德国莱比锡上学的小飞认识了当时在中国工作的Aibi. 两人迅速坠入爱河，小飞之后决定回到中国和Aibi在一起。
Both Xiaofei and Aibi believe their marriage is a unique miracle. But Xia Tianyu hears stories just like theirs everyday in Huatian Community, an online dating company affiliated with Chinese Internet giant Netease. Xia, the company's general manager, and his 30-member team are trying to demystify love with the help of big data.
小飞和Aibi都相信他们的婚姻是独一无二的奇迹。但是像他们这样的故事，夏天宇每天都会在花田听到。花田是一个在线交友公司，隶属于中国互联网巨头——网易公司。夏是公司的总经理，他和他的一个30人的团队正尽力用大数据揭秘爱情。
"This is a typical case of behavioral analysis leading to accurate demand," he says. In Xiaofei's case, the game provides a dialog channel for people with similar behaviors, such as hobbies, personalities and ways of expression. If man and woman with matching indices happen to be single and seeking love, their online conversation will result in "accurate demand" - dating and everything after that.
"这是一个行为分析的典型案例。这些行为分析会引出精确的需求“他说。在小飞的案例中，游戏为有相似行为的人提供了一个对话渠道，比如相似的爱好、性格和表达方式。如果男人和女人的匹配指数恰好是单身和求爱，他们的在线对话将引起"精确需求”——约会和之后一系列的活动。
Xia, an Oracle expert who is well-versed in database management, believes all things that seem unpredictable and subjective, love for example, can be measured by big data, including "hard indices" like age, height, weight, income and educational background, as well as "soft indices" like language, personality, social preference, reading preference, online duration and even horoscope.
作为一个精通数据库管理的数据库专家，夏相信所有那些看起来不可预测和主观的事情，比如爱情，都可以用大数据来估量。包括年龄、身高、体重、收入和教育背景之类的“硬指数”和语言、性格、社会偏好、阅读喜好、上网时长甚至是星象这样的“软指数”。
Liu Cixin, one of China's most celebrated sci-fi writers, also believes big data can be quite useful in helping people find their other half. "I once read an article saying that every person on the Earth may, in theory, fall in love with 600,000 others. It sounds amazing, but how many of the 600,000 will the person have the chance to meet in reality? I think there are very few."
中国最著名科幻小说作家之一的刘慈欣也相信大数据在帮助人们找寻他们的另一半的时候非常有用。“我曾经读过一篇文章，文章说每个人从理论上讲会爱上60万人。那听起来不可思议，但是在现实中这个人真正有机会见到60万人中的多少人呢？我认为很少。”
"Big data can pick out potential dating pairs from a very large pool, which is more accurate than traditional match-making, and give them chance to meet and communicate," Liu says.
“大数据可以从一大群人中挑选出可能地约会对象，这与传统的给他们机会见面和交谈的相亲比起来更加准确。”刘说。
American mathematician Christopher McKinlay famously demonstrated how successful big data can be in the pursuit of love.
众所周知，美国数学家Christopher McKinlay证明了在追寻爱情的过程中大数据是如何地成功。
McKinlay opened several accounts on the dating site OKCupid, and selected 6 million questionnaire answers from 20,000 registered women. He wrote programs to pick out 5,000 active users and narrowed the pool down by indices suitable for marriage.
McKinlay在约会网站OkCupid上注册了几个账户，并从20000个注册女性中选出了600万份调查问卷答案。他编了一个程序来选出5000个活跃用户，并通过适合结婚的指数来缩小范围。
Within 90 days, he used his optimized algorithm to find his match, an artist who later became his fiancee.
在90天内，他用他的优化算法寻找他的另一半。一位艺术家之后成了他的未婚妻。
The concept of big data is new in China, where most online users were born after 1980. This online generation is now at an age where many wish to get married.
大数据的概念在中国很新鲜，因为中国大多数的在线用户都是80后。这些网络一代现在都到了想要结婚的年龄。
Unlike their parents who mainly relied on match-making by relatives, friends and colleagues, nowadays young people, living in big cities with busy lifestyles, have little time to seek partners. Instead they turn to the Internet for help.
跟他们父母依靠亲戚、朋友和同事介绍相亲不同，现在的年轻人住在大城市，生活繁忙，没有时间去寻找配偶。因此，他们向网络寻求帮助。
Qu Xin, a university lecturer in East China's Anhui province, got her first account on QQ, a Chinese instant message service, in 2000 when she was only 15.
曲欣（音）是安徽省一所大学的讲师，她在2000年的时候就有了她的第一个QQ账户，那时候她只有15岁。
"I began to hear about love affairs on the Internet. The media at the time was very critical of online romance, and my parents didn't allow me to use QQ. But I still chatted online in secret," Qu says.
"我开始在网上听说一些爱情故事。那个时候的媒体对于网恋是非常批判的态度，而且我父母不让我用QQ。但我仍然偷偷地在网上聊天。“曲说。
The 28-year-old has received many flirty messages through QQ. She also has accounts on other Chinese social media, such as micro blog Weibo, and Wechat, a popular mobile messaging application. But none has helped her find Mr Right.
这个28岁的女孩已经在QQ上收到很多暧昧的信息。她在其他中国社交媒体上也有账号，比如微博，微信。但是没有一个帮她找到那个对的人。
"I often chat with guys online, but most of them are already my friends in real life. If it doesn't work out in real life, it wouldn't work out on the Internet," she says.
"我经常在网上和男生聊天，但他们之中的大部分人在现实生活中已经是我的朋友。如果在现实生活中不能起作用，在网上也不行。”她说。
According to China's Department of Civil Affairs, China's single population of marriageable age was 180 million in 2013. Despite the huge number, finding a soul mate has never been easy for young Chinese.
中国的民政部门称，中国已到结婚年龄的但仍单身的人口数量在2013年是1.8亿。尽管数量巨大，对中国人来说找到一个灵魂伴侣却从不简单。
"Love is still beyond the understanding of science," says Ji Xiaohua, CEO and founder of China's popular science website guokr.com.
“爱情仍然是科学不能理解的。”中国科普网站果壳网的创始人和CEO嵇晓华说道。
He says big data can improve the odds in favor of a successful communication. "For example, well-educated young people will find it easier to meet someone in a big city than in small ones, as in big cities there are more people with a similar background. Big data can help to filter out a group of people with similar hobbies and interests on a larger scale, providing a better match than a blind date," Ji explains.
他说大数据有利于提高成功交谈的几率。“比如，受过良好教育的年轻人会觉得和大城市的人见面比和小地方的人见面时更加轻松，因为大城市有更多有相似背景的人。大数据可以帮助更大规模地滤出一大群有相似爱好和兴趣的人，从而提供一个与相亲比起来更好的配对。”嵇解释道。
But he also points out the limited role by big data. "So far, the science of biology failed to analyze or understand love. When people fall in love, they make decisions both consciously and subconsciously. Big data can only cover the conscious factors, while the subconscious part is still a mystery for now."
但他也指出了大数据的局限性。“目前为止，生物科学不能分析或者理解爱情。当人们恋爱的时候，他们有意无意地做决定。大数据只能涉及有意识的因素，而无意识的因素在现在仍然是一个谜。”
However, Xia Tianyu and his team of engineers are still working on it. The team put together a speed dating event last Valentine's Day. One hundred applicants were selected from 1,000 volunteers and matched by computer during the event.
然而，夏天宇和他的工程师团队仍然在继续工作。他的团队在去年情人节的时候组织了一次“闪电约会”活动，在这次活动中，100个人从1000名志愿者中选出，再用电脑进行配对。“
But before the computer determined the 50 pairs, the would-be lovebirds had already made their own, unscientific choices. Big data matching was challenged, as some participants wanted to choose their dates based on their own criteria, and not follow the mathematical matching spewed out by a computer.
但是在电脑决定这50对之前，准情侣已经做出了他们非科学的选择。大数据配对受到了挑战，因为一些参与者希望依据他们自己的标准选择约会对象，而不是按照电脑涌出的数学匹配结果约会。
"Machines and technology can't take the place of real-life communication," Xia says. "But I hope one day, it will solve all human mystery, including love."
”机器和技术不能取代真实生活的交流。“夏说，”但我希望有一天，它能解开所有人类的奥秘，包括爱情。“
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