网络约会：我可以相信你吗？

So how popular is the dating game amongst the singles today in China?

Cao Hua is Chinese lady who has had a history of online dating she gives us her experience.

"I can't count how many I met on the internet and they are like a lot and it's become more popular and popular. Actually my Ex boyfriend we met on the internet had dinners, and also went to nightclubs."

Although Cao Hua has been in search for love on the internet several times, she warns that it is not right for anyone to find a lover over the internet for this reason.

"In my Opinion, I don't think it is a reliable way to find someone on the internet. It is not a good idea because firstly you don't know the qualities of the other person."

online dating has been compared with the old system of evening gatherings or parties where individuals could go to find a suitable partner.

It is just like any other game many would agree, that if you click on the right button then everything would work out for you just fine and even have evidence to prove it.

Nick Thiani, an African student in China, agrees that if it is your lucky day then you can walk away with a lottery.

"On my side I was looking for just a girl to start ah just a friend but maybe lead to something else more after that... There is one friend of mine as for him it went really good up to now they are still seeing each other so ......Some people get lucky and things happen for them.

It's my first time that I have tried it here. Actually back at home I don't know how it is done."

Thanks to technology now individuals can access another world so cheaply and easily.

online dating has become a business that actually is making profit because almost everyone in the west especially is doing it according to an article by MSNBC on its website.

It says selling love over the Internet seems like the perfect business model.

Professor Xia Xueluan is a sociologist with Peking University. He mentions another reason why youngsters try this practice-talking about affection without seeing each other face-to-face -seems much easier for some of them.

"Some are just too shy to talk with other people in real life. They flush when they do so, you know. They are afraid of being refused. But when they chat online they feel secure. Even if they get a 'no', it seems not so hurtful."

Xia however does not recommend such practice. He still remembers a case happening several years ago which caused great repercussions, in which a high school student was killed by her online date in central China's Henan Province.

"online dating can be very risky. It needs a lot of caution, because both sides don't know each other through everyday knowledge, while the internet is a virtual space. When they decided to start dating they may find a totally different person from the one they talked to online."

It is therefore important to note that online dating, as much as it might be interesting, can also be very dangerous in some instances. Individuals need to take proper caution when they decide to engage themselves in this kind of game.