One of the few things I know about the dating scene in the United States is that I am glad I am married. Because the proliferation of datings apps, social media and endless selfies makes the process of finding someone infinitely more complicated and terrifying.

So imagine what it’s like to try and find love in a society where men outnumber women by 30 million? With so much competition, women have their pick of options, which means aside from the numbers challenge, finding a spouse can feel impossible if you aren’t especially handsome and/or financially secure.

Violet Du Feng’s documentary The Dating Game follows three perpetual bachelors over a seven-day "dating camp" led by a dating coach named Hao. His approach is a familiar one if you’ve ever listened to one of the American “Bro-coach” relationship influencers selling information on how to get a woman. You must lie and tell them what you think they want to hear. Hao reveals his “push-and-pull” strategy, which is supposed to lure women in by playing on their emotions. He is married and claims he found his wife using these exact methods.

The three bachelors featured in the documentary are Zhou, a thirtysomething who dreams about moving back to the country and who is convinced he will never find love, so why bother? Wu is a quiet man who struggles to find time to date in between work. And Li is a reasonably good-looking, kind of stonerish guy who always manages to be sporting a smile, no matter the situation.

Hao puts the three men through his course, which involves taking a lot of carefully staged selfies and swiping on every dating profile they see. He encourages them to walk up to as many women as they can, under the theory that the more chances you have, the more likely it is you’ll make a connection.

And yet, as you watch these three men, their problems run deeper than just having enough opportunities. There are real cultural issues at play here, and volume doesn’t replace the issue of availability. And each of the men is worn down in their own way. They don’t believe they can overcome their shortcomings and in some cases, living in a male-oriented society has left them unsure of how to even interact with women.

While The Dating Game isn’t a perfect documentary, you’ll be left with the feeling that each of these guys deserves to find love. They are nice, thoughtful, hard-working men who live in society that doesn’t always reward those traits.

This is a fascinating, yet ultimately bittersweet look at the male loneliness epidemic in China and while I’m not sure there is anyway to solved it, it’s an important story to know.

The Dating Game is available on PBS Passport and the PBS app.