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A select group of Chinese millionaires have paid tens of thousands of yuan in the hope of finding their Cinderella at a fancy dress ball in Shanghai next Saturday evening.
Organized by a local matchmaking website, the ball will hold on board a luxury yacht that will ply the Huangpo River that runs through the center of Shanghai.
Wealthy men wanting to participate have had to apply to the website for the right to spend 28,800 yuan (about 3,600 U.S. dollars) for the evening. The millionaire men will be judged on two basic criteria; they have to be worth at least 2 million yuan (about 250,000 U.S.dollars) and must be single.
The potential Cinderella's face a much more stringent selection process. The website has hired marriage counselors who will interview the women to determine not only that they are beautiful but kind, gentle, tasteful and are college graduates. Their photographs will also be posted on the website.
So far, 391 people have signed up for this ball, according to Xu Tianli the event organizer.
"As the luxury yacht can only accommodate 50 guests, we'll cut many of the members (of the website) who have applied." said Xu, adding that at least 20 millionaires are expected to attend. Xu's website www.915915.com rhymes with the Chinese words for "just want you".
With the millionaires spending many times what most people earn each month on a single evening, and the shameless objectifcation of women, postings from the average netizen show many writers are less than impressed with the extravagance.
"Can money really buy the most precious human emotion? Impossible!" wrote another Mu Zi on one of China's major websites. "Please, give your money to charities if you have too much of it."
Other writers doubted the motives of millionaires and dubbed the party a concubine contest. "You have money but it is not an excuse to dally about with women," an anonymous netizen said.
Other netizens showed a little more tolerance and perhaps some envy.
"Every one has his or her own right to choose their other half, whether it's for love or money," said a netizen named Fang'er.
"Women, especially beautiful women, have more freedom to choose rich men to be their husbands." said Fang'er adding that it's the dream of most men to find a beautiful wife.
"People discriminate against millionaires but we should treat them as normal people." said Xu Tianli in defending his website's millionaire voyage.
Some millionaires do have difficulty finding their Miss Right, said Chen Yong, CEO of a website in Beijing, who has already placed several advertisements in the Beijing Evening News seeking a bride.
"Women I met are either too wealthy or too involved in their work, I'm only interested in a housekeeping wife," he complained echoing a male sediment leftover from feudal China.
"As a boss, I am too busy with work and socializing," said Fang Zhong who works in real estate, "I have no time and little chance to meet the women I like."
Li Dun, a sociologist with the Tsinghua University, said the matchmaking party has been sensationalized and is causing too much controversy.
"Chinese society is undergoing a transformation during which all things are possible," said Li adding that people are free to do what they want with money and others need to learn more tolerance.
One of the millionaires planning to attend said he didn't have high expectations about finding a future wife but admitted he's taking the event seriously. "After all nobody wants to squander 28,800 yuan on nothing," he said.
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