Secret celebrity romances are usually things that are uncovered by unscrupulous paparazzi photographers, violating the privacy of the rich and famous. However, the reveal of China’s hottest celebrity romance comes straight from the source itself – which, in this day and age, is a personal Weibo account.

Weibo users were first clued in to the romance between 50 year-old Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson and 31 year-old Chinese-Canadian singer Qu Wanting at beginning of January, but they made it official with a post sent by Robertson on Valentine’s Day:

Once again, this isn’t a private message, but a post sent to all of Robertson’s followers. While it may be a strange way to make it official, it makes sense for Robertson to announce his relationship to Qu on the Weibo micro-blogging service because he’s been mentioning Qu on his Weibo account for years.

The two were photographed together after a performance in February 2014, and another post has Robertson in full support of Qu becoming the tourism ambassador for Vancouver in November 2013 when he explained “Because SHE ROCKS!!!”

Robertson is having quite a year so far. He separated from his wife of 30 years last July, won himself a third term as the mayor of Vancouver, Canada back in November, and now has a new love in his life.

His public announcement of his relationship with Qu has resulted in a flurry of responses online. The most common is that he looks far younger than his 50 years:

佳爺万万岁：

There doesn’t seem to be an age difference of 19 years between [Robertson and Qu]… maintaining your health is very important.

STRONGKBB:

This old geezer is 50?!?! What a shock！

Sashaxu：

He doesn’t seem like he’s 50 years-old.

tearfulrobby：

Well maintained!

The coming together of East and West can have many implications, but the apparent one for netizens when it comes to cross-cultural relationships is the difference of beauty standards:

freshairr：

Her (meal)ticket doesn’t seem at all to be 50 years old, while she seems to be at least 40, oh my garters.

gemma凖：

Indeed, (her) face is suitable for a laowai (implying that Qu is not beautiful by Chinese standards).

Zippo227：

Foreigners like ugly women.

小婷婷luck：

Qu Wanting is (more) suitable for a foreigner because which Chinese would be able to put up with her?

尔本o：

Westerners aren’t willing to directly face the Chinese beauty standard.

A happy couple in love turns out to be the appropriate time to criticize their appearance.

罗滴嘎嘎：

Canadians are the most disgusting people. (I) pity that beautiful woman.

樱桃子2013：

At first I thought the woman had the worst end of the deal. The man is already 50 years old and is so much older than her. But then, after opening the photo, I felt that the man had the worst end of the deal…

But then some people were all too happy to wish the couple well:

男精零101：

I’m envious. 

徐威gg：

The very much have the appearance of a husband and wife.

Some netizens have come to certain conclusions about Vancouver and China’s northeast:

FrancisMartinCA：

After this, there will be more Chinese people going to Vancouver.

孫雪甛：

Speechless! 30 years of marriage is being substituted by a 31 year-old woman! I am fully in awe of China’s Dongbei (northeast)

While others see this relationship as having certain political overtones to it:

梦境_先知：

How are US mayors in any way more powerful than Chinese mayors, or any richer? That’s crazy!

肥皂是赵智君：

Why do I get the feeling that this is just propaganda material, and the mayor is just a fan?

jiatian琪：

Is this one technique with which China can conquer the world?

We’ll just have to see what comes next on Robertson’s Weibo account.

The post Vancouver Mayor Reveals Chinese Girlfriend on Weibo to Frenzied Response appeared first on The Nanfang.

At the same time, however, marriages in China usually happen for practical reasons rather for than romantic ones. According to a poll by relationship website Zhen’ai, Chinese have a very specific set of parameters for their potential soul mate.

One of these expectations is salary. Although Chinese society emphasizes equality between men and women, what’s fair for the workforce is not the case between husbands and wives. When asked what kind of difference in salary they’d ideally expect from a future husband, 72 percent of female respondents said they’d want a husband to bring home twice as much as they do. The idea that a man must make more than his wife is shared by male respondents, with only one percent of men saying they’d marry a woman that made twice as much as they did.

Age is another important consideration. While females said they’d prefer someone close in age to them, men don’t want an older wife. Only 17 percent said they’d marry an older woman, and only three percent are actively looking for a woman at least 10 years older.

Then there are the people who will patiently standby and wait for the one they want, even if the object of their desires is already in a relationship. This is known in China as a “spare tire”: a secondary, “back-up” choice should the marriage fail.  This back-up boyfriend is usually somebody who didn’t quite measure up initially, but can be kept in the bullpen as an insurance policy.

While that might not sound so great, Chinese men apparently don’t have a problem with it. Forty-seven percent of male respondents said they would be willing to serve as a “spare tire” for a woman with other marriage plans. Women aren’t willing to do the same though, with 84 percent saying they wouldn’t want to be a spare tire.

With all this talk of conditions and contracts, you might think that dating for love doesn’t have a chance in China. In fact, the concept of two strangers going out on a date for fun and possibly more isn’t common in China. Instead, Chinese go on xiangqin (相亲 xiāngqīn), a meeting between a man and a woman for the purpose of determining marriage.

Instead of dinner and a movie and discovering mutual interests, it’s a fact-finding mission to see if the other party fulfills your expectations of what a ideal spouse should be. Often done with the involvement of family and acquaintances, xiangqin are often stress-filled encounters that are as numerous as they are short. With so much pressure riding on these encounters, many Chinese avoid going on xiangqin, often using the complaint, “I’m too busy with work.”

All this isn’t to say that love doesn’t exist in China. Instead, love in a marriage is what takes place once the proper conditions between husband and wife are satisfied.

No one can say that real love is not important to Chinese. After all, the xiangqin website that conducted this poll, Zhen’ai, means “real love” in English. And where else could yuanfen happen but on a website where you can filter out who you want to meet by salary and age?

The post Love an Unattainable Luxury, Chinese Marry for Practical Reasons Instead appeared first on The Nanfang.

A makeshift private elevator in Zhuji, Zhejiang Province drew headlines in China recently after photos of the external elevator circulated online. Other residents said the private elevator blocked sunlight, ruined the environment, and took up space for parking.

It is the latest in a trend of outrageous (and usually illegal) constructions by Chinese residents, like rooftop temples and castles. Unlike those, however, this elevator wasn’t a vanity project but a pragmatic solution.

Mr Li, who lives on the sixth floor, built the elevator for his aging parents who live on the fifth floor. Li’s mother had surgery on her leg this year, so she has trouble climbing stairs.

Li’s neighbors in the lower apartments initially supported the idea to help Li’s parents, but later turned against the elevator. Li originally said it would be five meters away from the building, but the final version was only 1.6 meters from the exterior wall, which irked residents.

The local planning department tried to negotiate a settlement, but talks broke down and the planning department gave Li a seven-day ultimatum: either work it out with your neighbors or the elevator will be dismantled.

With his back against the wall, Li did what any filial son would do: he purchased all of the other apartments below the 5th floor flat.

Li wouldn’t give a precise price, but said he paid about RMB 10,000 ($1,600) per square meter for each 150 square meter apartment, or approximately RMB 600,000 ($240,000) for all of the apartments.

In addition to the elevator, which cost tens of thousands of yuan to build, it seems Li could have saved some money and hassle if only he simply bought a ground floor apartment for his parents. But that wasn’t an option, Li said:

My mother is turning 90 soon, and she just had surgery performed on her leg. As she’s used to living here, she’s not willing to move.

Li didn’t say what he plans to do with the other four apartments, nor if the elevator will stop at each floor now that all of the apartments are his.

Related:

• Demolition Begins on Hidden Forest House in Guangzhou
• Dongguan Castle in the Air Becomes Latest Controversial Architecture
• Shenzhen Temple is the Latest Elaborate and Controversial Rooftop Structure

Photos: 163

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What was supposed to be a romantic, memorable experience for a young couple in Wuhan turned into an embarrassing (and painful) hospital visit. As reported by Caijing, a first kiss turned into a nightmare.

An 18 year-old university student named Zhang was out celebrating with his girlfriend Xiao Wen on their first Qixi Festival together last Saturday. They did the usual lovebird-type things: Zhang gave her candy and took her out to dinner. Then they headed out into a secluded wooded area on campus where everything appeared right for that special moment.

Zhang, though, was a bit too excited. As he leaned in to kiss Xiao Wen, he collided with her using excessive force, causing her jaw to dislocate.  At around 9pm, red with embarrassment, Zhang took Xiao Wen to a hospital off campus to avoid running into anybody he knew.

The Deputy Director of the Oral Cavity Department Dr Zhang Fulan treated Xiao and properly reattached her jaw, allowing her to open and close it as well as being able to kiss, should she ever recover from her newest phobia.

Despite the sensational circumstances of this story, Dr Zhang said these types of injuries are quite common. He said jaw dislocations commonly occur from kissing, laughing, yawning, or eating an apple. He explained that because the jaw is relaxed, injuries resulting from force can happen.

To prevent such injuries, Dr Zhang recommends not opening your mouth too wide, laughing too loudly, biting into things that are too hard, and to exercise your chewing muscles.

As for kissing, Dr Zhang suggests not to “overdo it”.

Photo: Youtube

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The event will take place on August 8, the same day as the Chinese festival called Qixi*. Organizers are looking for 119 Chinese couples and 80 Asian and African couples to sign up before July 10.

With the theme of “Romantic Zhuhai, the legend of love”, the tandem bike race is planned along many of Zhuhai’s city landmarks: it begins at Zhuhai’s Lovers’ Lane and East Wind Road before winding its way through Haibin Park, the Zhuhai Fisherwoman, the Haibin Pool, and the Zhuhai Opera House, which is currently under construction. With the Macau skyline in the background, the race course will finally end at Hengqin Changlong International Resort for a total distance of 29.9km.

And it’s not just in the name of love: the winners of the race will get a chance to win the exclusive use of a Trumpche car for two years.

Sounds positively romantic, having your love be authenticated through the participation of breaking a world record. Though we’d have to say: an ideal competition involving two people in love should be more something like this:

***

* Notes: Formerly known as “Girls’ Day”, Qixi Festival is well-known for its heart-breaking story of the cowherd and the seamstress who were destined to spend all of eternity apart except for this one day of the year. On Qixi, all the crows in the world fly to bridge the gap in the Milky Way, allowing them to finally meet each other, if only temporarily.

For this reason, Qixi is often referred as China’s “Valentine’s Day” despite also celebrating similar romantic festivals on “I Love You” Day (May 20), Singles’ Day (Nov 11), Valentine’s Day and White Day (March 14).

Photo: Sina, Says.com

The post Zhuhai Wants Lovers on Tandem Bicycles, So Many It Can Break a World Record appeared first on The Nanfang.

A 40 year-old electrician and plumber named Lian publicly proposed to his girlfriend Liao while dressed in a matching red bra and underwear yesterday in Zhangmutou, Dongguan.

Lian’s public lingerie show were part of a set of conditions demanded by Liao, aged 30.

PHOTOS: Shenzhen Lingerie Supermodel Contest

“My girlfriend made me do it,” Lian said, and described his foray into lingerie modelling as a test.

She wanted to see if I really loved her, would take care of her, and if I would have the courage to propose to her in a way that ordinary people may not understand.

The couple first met each other ten years ago, but made a romantic connection last year when Lian went to help with renovations to a property supervised by Liao.

The conditions set by Liao may be related to the economic disparity between the couple. Liao earns approximately RMB 10,000 a month as an accountant with a property management company, but Lian, once divorced, earns less than that and does not own a house.

Lian explained himself further:

I’m not handsome, not young, don’t have any money, and I am without any assets to speak of. That’s why my proposal is more unique without going overboard. Also, this will be an unforgettable experience.

RELATED: Bikini-Clad Shenzhen Girls Call for ”Rational“ Protest
Against the Japanese

Without the security of a home and assets to comfort her, Liao thusly explained her attraction to Lian:

Can’t say if this is fate, but I just like Lian for his simple and virtuous nature.

We do, too. It seems only a person of a simple and virtuous nature would ever acquiesce to such a demand.

Read:

• Guangzhou Men Strut in High Heels for Chance at Cash
• Attention ladies: A&F models have been flown in for HK store opening
• Guangzhou Crackdown on Foreign Models Without Proper Visas

Photos: Yangcheng Evening Report

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A recent report by Baihe Net entitled “Report on Shenzhen Residents’ Relationship and Marital Status” revealed that more than 70 percent of the city’s non-local residents find it hard to find their significant other, an opinion to which 69.1 percent of locals agree, reported Yangcheng Evening News on May 12.

It does not help matters when 85.9 percent of female respondents in Shenzhen and Guangzhou said they believe that a man with a monthly salary below RMB 5,000 ($800) should not even attempt to start a relationship, a salary already 8.4 percent higher than the national average, the report said.

And once in a relationship, marriage is the only thing keeping them committed because 72.2 percent of non-local Shenzhen residents believe marriage is the goal of relationships, an opinion 64.5 percent of locals seconded.

Not surprisingly, for the large pool of lonely souls, old maids and bachelors in the city, physical needs are self-actualized. 61.6 percent of bachelors in Shenzhen said their sexual needs were “self-sufficed and handled on their own”, and 29 percent of single women also took the matters into their own hands.

And don’t forget: China is still a country where men are pressured to marry in order to prove their manhood, and women marry for financial security. The pressure is mounting for Shenzhen’s singles, and none of the parties are happy about their status as singles; parents are constantly nagging them about potential marriage problems before the slightest opportunity for marriage had even arrived.

The report said 54.4 percent of local single males worry about regional cultural and custom differences in a cross-provincial marriage, and 39.8 percent worry about the trouble of commuting between the bride’s family and groom’s family during the Spring Festival.

Perhaps the only ones who are smiling after reading about the city’s large unwed population are the advertisers and shop owners who have perhaps, already started planning this year’s Singles Day retail campaigns on November 11.

 Home page and content page images: Sohu

The post Paradise, Lost: The Lonely, Loveless City of Shenzhen appeared first on The Nanfang.

Ah Qiang recently met a woman online 15 years his elder and soon after began his mad pursuit. After being turned down by the woman because of their age difference, Ah Qiang threatened to kill himself over the phone in a desolate part of the woods nearby Tang Gan Village in Sanxiang, where he demanded the woman meet him, Nandu reported on April 28.

Frightened by the threat, the woman called the local police. But when the police arrived at the scene, Ah Qiang refused to come out despite efforts to appease him. Shortly after, a shriek was heard as Ah Qiang had stabbed himself in the stomach with a knife by the time police rushed in.

His dreams cut short, the budding Romeo was sent to a local hospital where he’s recovering.

Who knows how else this tragedy could have turned out. Seeing as they were in the woods, Ah Qiang could have escalated this to another level. But to really know for sure, you’d have to axe him.

Home page photo: Shenzhen Media Group

The post Rejected by Woman, Zhongshan Man Stabs Himself in the Woods appeared first on The Nanfang.

No talking at the back.

Like many classes, it involved a stern teacher and a couple of students giggling and whispering at the back. This particular lecture included a screen that may have been a PPT and focused on how to use social media services such as Momo, WeChat and Sina Weibo.

The bespectacled lecturer also emphasized the importance of using a photoshopped picture to attract customers’ interest, stressing the value of having an ovular face and attractive eyes.

The points on the whiteboard also included a reminder that students should maintain contact with their higher-level customers and avoid wasting time on “diaosi,” an internet slang word for loser.

Attentive students.

The video has been forwarded well over 1,000 times on Sina Weibo and watched over 1 million times. One Sina Weibo user said: “Life is all about selling. We all need to learn to sell ourselves.” Another said “The corporate training industry really is frighteningly competitive nowadays.” Another said: “Does this mean the women I’ve been chatting with on Momo are all hookers?”

The post Watch: Prostitutes in China get a lesson in using Momo, WeChat to lure clients appeared first on The Nanfang.

But there are exceptions to every rule. A student at Sun Yat-sen University, Zeng Peilun, attended her graduation ceremony with her baby and husband, becoming a minor celebrity, according to Guangzhou Daily. After falling in love in her sophomore year and getting married in her junior year, Zeng would have graduated this year, but she had to put her studies on hold to give birth to her son.

“Why not marry while the flame is brightest,” she said. Zeng says marrying her husband, 18 years her senior, was an easy decision. She says her parents are very open-minded and supportive, allowing her to make whichever decisions make her happy. Talking about becoming a mother, Zeng said she finds it hard but worthwhile, “I appreciate my mother even more now.”

As for the gossip she is facing, as a student of media studies, Zeng says she understands and can handle it.

Many graduates even expressed envy toward Zeng: “We can’t judge this young mother, there’s no right or wrong, there’s only what’s good for the person making the choice. Let’s bless this courageous beautiful young mother”, said a former classmate.

According to China’s Marriage Law of 1980, the age at which Chinese can legally marry is 20 for women and 22 for men. Chinese women tend to be under severe pressure to marry before 30. Those who don’t are labelled leftover women.

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