Chen Jinning, a Vietnamese bride, and her 34-year-old husband, Wang Jinwu, a cripple, in Raoping county, Chaozhou of South China's Guangdong province on Mar 20, 2015. [Photo/CFP]

A profile of 20 interviewed foreign marriage families in Huzhu village shows that most lead a meager life, mainly because the condition of the husband is far from good.

The four characteristics of local men who marry Vietnamese women, are poor, dull, old or disabled, said Yang Jinrong, a worker with the publicity department of Changtai county, Zhangzhou, who participated in a report of local Vietnanese brides.

Yang Qimei's husband is a typical poor man, 42, who crams his big family, including two brothers, into a one-room thatched house.

If Yang Qimei stopped earning a salary the family would be reduced to a more miserable state.

Except for smuggled or fake Vietnamese brides, other missing brides experienced a far more complicated situation than revealed by reports, which largely focus on the plight of Chinese men rather than on the suffering of their brides.

"Research shows that there are cases where Chinese men defrauded Vietnamese brides, but it is largely ignored," said Wu Yanhua, a PhD candidate majoring sociology at Xiamen University.

Due to the great distance involved and limited dating time, Vietnamese brides may be given misleading information," Wu added.

Among 20 interviewed Vietnamese brides, all underwent feelings of regret, fear and dissatisfaction the moment they entered their new home in China. They all quarreled with their husbands.

Besides the huge gap between expectation and reality, difficulty in getting a Chinese green card and the substantial growth in the visa fee, which reached 800 yuan ($129) last year from 168 yuan, the trend of Vietnamese women entering China for marriage has withered.

According to statistics provided by the Civil Affairs Department of Fujian province, the number of Vietnamese women entering Yanxi town through marriage last year was zero.