China may not be on the verge of sexual revolution just yet, but its growing online community is offering people an unprecedented set of choices, as clicking through the country's hundreds of chat rooms and message boards shows.
And when it comes to love's old proverbial stumbling block -- getting started -- an act requiring a courageous leap of face in China, there is no better place than the Web, one online advertisement says.
"With so many people passing by around us, we were only caught by each other, but no courage to come up to each other and say hello ... now we're fortunate enough to have the Internet as a bridge."
The Internet not only does away with the complications of the first move, but also acts as a buffer, automatically placing people in similar socio-economic and educational classes, Li said.
"Once students are out of school, their circle of contacts are fairly narrow and many feel that the only way to find friends or potential romantic interests is by going online," Hartford said.
Others, like Nancy Jiang, turn to the Internet for a form of self-therapy.
"Frankly the Web is my mental support," said Jiang, who became estranged from her husband after five years of marriage.
"I have had several boyfriends on the Web, and met some of them. I am only 30, I need sex ... but I no longer trust love."
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