3 ?7 N; r8 y8 Z: q % Q9 r3 r, ]4 W" [. AInternet matchmaking blooms in China0 z+ Y7 `! ?! m) b# t
: O6 S( ^$ l1 Y" Z8 IDRIVEN BY HEARTS AND WALLETS, UPWARDLY MOBILE SEEK PARTNERS$ D( N$ G- v& s# N& i r2 j" y$ x
o2 Z4 V v/ ^# A# SBEIJING - When May Yao talks about love, she could be discussing a business plan, not a matter of the heart. She is 25, attractive, successful - a graduate from the prestigious Peking University. She works for a real estate company, owns two apartments - valued at $260,000 each - and drives a BMW. Now, she is looking for success in her romantic life, too: She hired Internet "love counselors" to help her find a husband. "After age 25, you are not as beautiful," she said. "It is like the stock market: You want to sell at the peak." It's girl-wants-to-meet-boy, modern Chinese-style. There is a certain drive to couple up - something akin to the way Chinese young people seek educational and professional perfection. "That's something people in Silicon Valley don't appreciate - how intense people are here," observed venture capitalist Gary Rieschel, who relocated from Silicon Valley to Shanghai and is looking to invest in a dating Web site. Dating sites are among the hottest new slices of China's emerging Internet market. In a nation where young people have traditionally relied on parents, friends and even professional matchmakers to help find a mate, the Internet is emerging as a great leap forward in the search for Mr. and Ms. Right. Dating sites, some backed by valley investors, are blossoming in what could become the greatest matchmaking market known to humankind: China's 130 million - and growing - online users. 9 n9 w& [( { e/ @3 s; F7 h6 P/ }5 X5 B' h% k! K