Chinese dating apps (/messaging apps with dating functionality)

[onebir]

Stumbled across this:

http://www.echinacities.com/expat-corner/Finding-Love-Through-a-Screen-Online-Mobile-Dating-Apps-in-China

 

But then a friend mentioned Tantan (探探) which seems just like a Chinese Tindr (only read about Tindr, but Tantan's swipe to like/dislike seems like a direct copy of Tindr).

 

So I wonder if there are other apps worth discussing, whether anyone has hints/tips/war stories...

[eion_padraig]

Be aware that there was someone who looked into Tartan and found out that none of the data is encrypted (https://www.larrysalibra.com/how-chinese-tinder-clone-screws-you/), which could lead to problems.

 

I used Tantan and Momo previously. Supposedly Momo is more about hooking up/ONS, but I wouldn't say the interaction I had with women on either app was markedly different. Most seemed interested in finding boyfriends. I'd say the vast majority of both apps had women with no or very limited English. 
 

By comparison, the women I've met through Okcupid or Tinder (not many where I'm at; also had to use VPN) seems to have much stronger English language skills. While there were almost no foreign women on Tantan/Momo, there are some on Occupied and Tinder.

 

Eion

[onebir]

Whoah good to know that about Tantan! Passwords etc in plain text, spoofable location allowing triangulation of arbitrary people's locations... O_o

 

The person who put me onto Tantan said there are quite a few hookers etc on Momo - but perhaps that's more noticeable in Shanghai where she is. Tantan does seem a little bit more relationship oriented to me - there seems to be more emphasis on likes and dislikes as conversation starters. But dedicated dating apps aside, Ｉ just got an - unwanted - insight into the hookup (?) potential of WeChat; a young woman (who wouldn't even tell me her age!) suggested I pick up a box of milk and two boxes of beer and get a taxi to her place. I didn't even realise what that was all about until my obtuseness/her insistence on using local (?) slang with the clueless waiguoren got her so annoyed she told me to 滚 in every possible direction

[abcdefg]

The Kunming TV channel has a "looking for a marriage partner" show during prime time every night. A host introduces a man to the audience and then does the same for a woman who might possibly be a match. Often times these candidates are not young and it's their second time around (divorced with kids.)

 

Then a different host meets with the two of them somewhere in the city like a park or a cafe and encourages them to chat and get to know each other. At the end of that meeting, the two participants decide whether or not to exchange phone numbers to take it further.

 

The thing that interested me the most is how the format of the show lists each person's "vital statistics." Age, height, and annual income. At the face-to-face meetings there is always a discussion of how the couple would handle the issue of their relatives, for example, "Will we have to take care of your aged mother if we marry?"

 

And of course they need to know if the guy has a good job, a house, and a car. There's usually some discussion of health status and whether the guy smokes and drinks. Not much romance; very practical stuff. Comes across like two small businesses considering a merger.

[onebir]

Oh someone recommended I sign up for that when I mentioned my age + single

 

An update, covering some more recent, nichier, contenders:

http://www.echinacities.com/expat-corner/8-Apps-and-Websites-that-are-Changing-the-Way-China-Does-Dating

[abcdefg]

Oh someone recommended I sign up for that when I mentioned my age + single

 

Well, @Onebir, you missed your chance to meet an overweight 50-year old Kunming woman with bad teeth and two teenage sons who only speaks dialect and earns 3 万 a year as a cleaning lady. Might have been a terrific love match. Haha! (Only joking.)

[Meng Lelan]

[onebir]

I'm signing up!

[Lu]

an overweight 50-year old Kunming woman with bad teeth and two teenage sons who only speaks dialect and earns 3 万 a year as a cleaning lady

Isn't it a bit mean to make fun of someone like this? We'll all be 50 someday, many of us will be overweight, many of us will be lucky to have two teenage sons, and it's hardly such a lady's fault for being undereducated and having a low-paying job. While this (hypothetical?) woman is clearly not The One for Onebir, there's no reason she's not deserving of love (or at least a good marriage), and surely she's a suitable match for someone else.

[abcdefg]

@Lu, you need to watch this show. The candidates, male and female, are very much as I've describe above. I'm not making up a fanciful scenario for sport.

[Lu]

I'm not saying such a woman doesn't exist (of course she does) or isn't on that show (I fully believe she is), but that it's rather mean to make fun of her. There but for the grace of god goes your grandmother, or your mother, or you.

[onebir]

 

While this (hypothetical?) woman is clearly not The One for Onebir

Could be! Onebir could be even less preposessing! (Hypothetically...)

 

Anyway, remember car, house, job seem to go a long way - all of which Onebir currently lacks (& doesn't really give a **** about!)