ONLINE dating, a blind date TV show and a mass blind-date party are big deals in Hangzhou because early marriage and settling down is a Chinese imperative.

A popular dating site (www.jiayuan.com) claims around 21 million members. A mass blind-date party in Hangzhou last month attracted 20,000 people ranging form their low 20s to over 50.

And a blind-date TV show in Hangzhou, "Win A Blind Date" airing 8:10pm-8:43pm every Monday to Friday on Zhejiang TV's Leisure Channel, gets top ratings for its time slot.

Blind dates, once considered out of date, are now in fashion, as well as often-preferred introductions by friends.

Blind dating has a long history in China - arranged marriages were, in effect, blind dates. They always led to marriage and sometimes the young man and woman only met at their wedding.

After 1949, the feudal tradition was rejected and people wanted to marry for love and decide for themselves. Blind dates were out.

The Internet is filled with blind date blogs, such as "My Blind Date History" and "My Shocking Blind Date."

Wang Hongyan, 25, has had lots of blind dates.

"Pressure from my parents is a big reason, as for most young Chinese," she says. "When I was a student, my parents were against 'puppy love' but now they urge me every day to find a mate."

Because young people are busy at work, they often can't spare time to find a date and their circle of friends cannot provide someone suitable, says Wang.

A blind date, aided by a matchmaking screener, has a lot of advantages for both sides.

"The matchmaker knows both people's requirements and qualifications, so young people can avoid direct and impolite questions like 'how much do you earn'?" she says.

Professional matchmaking organizations, Websites and TV shows all play a part. Parents no longer sit at the next table when a couple meets. Matchmakers no need be relatives or colleagues.

In Hangzhou, the popular TV show "Win A Blind Date" claims more than 20,000 members. Hundreds of people call its hotline to register or make inquiries every day. Thousands of cell phone messages are sent while the program is airing - many are displayed at the bottom of the screen.

Unlike many other blind dating shows, this one doesn't arrange young men and women sitting face to face. In advance of the show, participants tell the staff their requirements and then the staff comes up with suitable candidates from their database. The person then makes a selection of a few. Then the other person is asked if they want to meet him/her and be on the show.

So a lot is settled beforehand.

Then comes the meeting on stage, hopefully there's some chemistry.

Then the camera follows them on their blind date.

Sometimes the young people's comments are saucy, shocking or outrageous. Those are the best. The audience loves those tidbits to gossip over.

Then it's up to the young people to actually meet after the show, figure out when, where, who pays and so on.

The show staff definitely strive for interesting cases to boost ratings.

"Though there are many ways to get to know people today, the opportunities to find the right marriage partner are declining," says Zhang Lei, a professor at Zhejiang University of Technology. "TV offers a way for young people to show themselves, but ordinary and modest behavior cannot attract much public interest in modern society, especially not on TV. Some people take risks to stand out in hopes of getting a bigger benefit, a date."

"Spontaneity is better than the best script," says TV show "Win A Blind Date" producer Wei Fen. "The reality show atmosphere and familiarity of the program is unique and the audience can watch whether the man pays the check or they split it, for example."

The original idea was not to collect "shocking" people but interesting people make better participants, he says. Putting outrageous people regularly on the show can hinder it because then nice candidates are afraid to show up and there's a lot of criticism from Netizens.

The show has a lot of well-educated, well-paid women - often better qualified than men. But that disparity can make a match difficult; men get intimidated. And when accomplished women are older, that's a problem.

"Ladies older than 30 with high salary are the hardest the match up," says Wei. "Their basic requirements for marriage partners are often that they own a car and house, while local men are easier to please, often saying simply, 'no sales women'."

"A better education and background for women raises delicate issues about relationships," says Professor Zhang. Men are used to being the boss, older, wiser, richer and so on.

"Women's higher status is good for self respect; they get high positions and salaries like men. But men still want to be better than their mates and many men don't chase these women if their own economic means are modest." Man seeks busty vegetarian Mao Hanlu, who works in the airport, says on the "Blind Date" TV show that what he wants in a mate and what his parents want are quite different.

"My father says teachers and nurses are the best girlfriends," says Mao, who comes from Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province. "I need to find a younger girl whose hometown is near mine."

Viewers immediately fired SMS, calling him "Daddy's boy" and saying, "Is he looking for a girlfriend or a mother?"

At least he respects his family, say some.

As for what Mao wants: "I don't want a girl who smokes because I don't smoke, she shouldn't snore in her sleep and she must accept that I'm a vegetarian. I only eat vegetables and can spend an hour cutting potatoes into shreds as thin as hair."

He scared his first on-camera date, a bar manager.

"I don't cook, I smoke, and I love eating meat. You're a nice person," she said as she left.

He shocked and frightened off the second girl by saying, "My father says women with big breasts have more milk and can breast-feed their child very well."

So his idea is a big-busted vegetarian who doesn't snore.

The exasperated TV staff finally found someone he likes: an introverted primary school teacher. We don't know about her breasts.

She told Mao: "I haven't eaten live things for a long time, and I don't dare kill mosquitoes. They are all living things."

"She's my type," says Mao, but his father isn't so sure. Lady rejects male virgins "You've never dated? You're a virgin? I don't want a virgin. Sorry."

That's the kind of spicy stuff the audience just loves to hear.

And it comes from pretty, shapely and outspoken Wang Xiaoxiao from Chengdu, Sichuan Province, known for its hot, hot food.

They meet in a cafe - everything is filmed.

Then Wang meets another young man and finds out that he is younger than her.

"I don't date younger guys, but we can be friends," 22-year-old Wang says.

The hapless youth kept struggling to persuade her that age doesn't matter. She told him about 20 times he was too young, then took him out the door, hailed a taxi and put him inside.

Wang tells the camera: "I want to find a nice man, especially a Zhejiang Province man because I think they are mild and have good dispositions."

That won her a lot of fans.

There are other cases: a Yueju Opera actress who only wants handsome men; a short homely man who only wants tall pretty girls; a never-married man over 40 who takes his physical exam report on his blind dates; and a man who takes all six blind dates to have dinner at home with his parents.