How to snag a date with a foreigner

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A few years ago during a trip to Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, I went for a long walk around the West Lake. Each time I sat down on a bench or just stopped for a few minutes to enjoy the view, a young Chinese man would approach me and start a conversation. When I asked him why he visited the West Lake area, one of his reasons was that "everyone knows you should come here if you want to meet foreigners and hang out with them."

Nowadays, you can still find Chinese parents turning up in Beijing's parks in search of partners for their children or young people looking for some foreign friends in Sanlitun bars. However, it seems that the best way to find love is through the Internet. Dating apps, WeChat and websites for foreigners seem to be among the top places to find your better half.

One option is to use TanTan, which can simply be described as a Chinese version of Tinder. However, it might not be the most suitable choice for those who are looking for a relationship. It is more commonly used to find a one-night crazy adventure.

The simplest way is to use your WeChat contacts. Since you can shop, transfer money, sign up for conferences or order food using this app, why couldn't you find your partner on it? The main difficulty lies in finding foreigners on WeChat, as you cannot search for people using random names like on Facebook. But it seems that many Chinese people have already figured out how to get in touch with foreign friends. First, you join a group where there are foreigners, such as "Christmas party for expats" or "Language Jobs." The next step is to add people from the group and message them individually. A few times I have been offered an opportunity for a date, language exchange and even to meet a rich older man.

Another option is to use online portals, which are free monthly listings and entertainment websites. They are top places among expats in Beijing to place their own ads, search for jobs and find out where next weekend's party will take place. 

In the "personal" category of the websites, or just randomly placed among the professional job offers, you can find a ton of dating adds. Some are written in a very serious tone, posted by people who are looking for commitments and clearly emphasize that they want a relationship not a one-night stand. Some are a bit awkward or just funny, especially when you read a long love letter to a future girlfriend or you click on the ad entitled "feta looking for the tomato" and find out that someone just wants to create a perfect crunchy salad of love with someone.

I analyzed people's backgrounds who write these types of posts and the outcome was that they were predominantly Chinese women looking for foreign boyfriends or foreign men looking for girlfriends in China. Some girls from Beijing clearly stated they are not interested in some nationalities, including Chinese.

Still feeling lonely in Beijing? Just log in to WeChat, set up an account on TanTan or simply introduce yourself on the Internet. Then just wait a while. Your future partner will find you!

This article was published on the Global Times Metropolitan section Two Cents page, a space for reader submissions, including opinion, humor and satire. The ideas expressed are those of the author alone, and do not represent the position of the Global Times.

Source: Global Times

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1081017.shtml

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