11月25日晚，炒得沸沸扬扬的“富翁VS美女征婚派对”终于在上海黄浦江中的游览船“船长一号”上开场。主办方“钻石王老五征婚”网站在船上召开新闻发布会，声称参加活动的嘉宾均为富翁会员和条件非常优秀的单身美女，其中有十几位重量级的亿万单身富翁参加聚会，这也是国内首次大型亿万富翁集体征婚派对。据悉，富翁类会员要交纳28800元活动经费，而个人条件出众的非富翁类会员，经富翁类会员邀请和网站综合审核后可免费出席。

Participants of the 'love boat' matchmaking event are seen inside a boat before it sets sail for a river cruise in Shanghai November 25, 2006. [Reuters]

Educated, overworked and looking for love, members of China's new rich gathered for what was touted as the country's first dating cruise -- open only to men worth at least 2 million yuan (US$250,000; euro195,000).

The cruise, organized Saturday by a matchmaking Web site, illustrates a growing phenomena: Well-educated and increasingly affluent young Chinese are having a hard time finding partners.

Xu Tianli, CEO of Web site www.915915.com.cn, said he staged the event -- tickets for which cost 28,800 yuan (US$3,600; euro2,750) -- as a public service for his site's members.

"We're the country with the world's biggest population, so marriage is a serious concern, especially for wealthy men who don't have time to meet anyone," Xu said.

Female participants had to be college educated and undergo a rigorous screening process. Xu said participants had been narrowed down from a list of 408 applicants, 119 of them men.

The participants planned to pass the evening cruising the Huangpu River aboard the Captain One, a faux square rigger bedecked with pink balloons and fairy lights hanging from its mast. With heavy rain falling, it wasn't clear how many of the expected 50 attendees would show up.

Organizers refused to permit photographs or even interviews with participants, although one man who signed up said he considered the idea behind the cruise "extremely natural."

"This really is the most natural way to meet someone because everyone is here for the same reason. Out in the world, you can't just walk up to someone and ask if they're single," said the man, a manager in his late 30s who declined to give his name.

With young Chinese -- rich or not -- spending more time on work and education and less on romance, demand is soaring for dating services and other nontraditional matchmaking techniques.

Xu said his site's revenues rose 35 percent this year, although he gave no figures. He said his members are 35 percent men, 65 percent women. The site allows members to post photographs and brief introductions and also counsels singles on how to find a match.

Lin Jingjing, a manager of another matchmaking site, www.Marry5.com, based in the southern business hub of Guangzhou, said business is also booming, but declined to give specifics.

"We've found that white-collar professionals aged 25 to 40 have the toughest time of all finding a partner," said Lin.

"Most of them are highly educated, with a good jobs and salaries. But they're too busy with work and their circle of friends and contacts is too small. That's a big problem," Lin said.

Along with the Internet, less high-tech means are also being employed to help couples pair up. In Beijing, Shanghai and other cities, parents gather in parks armed with their children's photographs and resumes in hopes of meeting another parent with a suitable match.