With Valentine's Day fast approaching, we put the spotlight on some of the most influential couples in Beijing, from business moguls to movie stars, to find out what makes their partnerships tick - and why they are some of the most powerful pairings in China.

Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin

Though Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin (main picture and cover) are far from being the richest property developers in China, they are recognized as the most famous couple in the Chinese real estate industry. The dynamic couple have redefined the way mainland property developments are built, marketed and sold and pioneered Beijing's modern CBD (Central Business District) concept.

Their landmark buildings include the SOHO modern city, the first modern building in Beijing that combines the small office and home concept and Bo'ao Canal Village, which has been used as the site of Bo'ao Forum for Asia. The Commune of the Great Wall, which was built by the couple in 2002, has been hailed as one of the World's 101 Best Hotels in Taler's list and won Zhang an award at the 2002 Venice Biennale.

The couple's love story is also revealing. Born in rural Gansu Province, Pan arrived in Beijing to study at the city's Petroleum Institute. After graduation he worked in an institute for a short time, then quit the job to try to find work in Hainan Province. With the property market booming in Shenzhen and Hainan, Pan made his first big cash hall there. He then returned to Beijing to invest his profits. It was in the capital that he met Zhang, an experienced financial consultant with GoldmanSachs. It was love at first sight and they were married within a few months. Pan has joked that his marriage is a combination of rural China with the modern world, as Zhang has an overseas education and work experience in the United States, while he comes from a poor farmers' family and had never been abroad prior to making his millions.

This big cultural gap didn't prevent the couple going from strength to strength. With Zhang dealing with the capital operation and overseas connections and Pan focusing on local marketing, the couple reaped the rewards from their soaring business and real estate projects, from SOHO Modern City to Vantone Lishan Plaza, (now renamed Central Park) in Beijing.

Gold medal couple: Tian Bingyi & Zhou Jihong

Tian Bingyi and Zhou Jihong are known as the "gold medal couple", as they have coached numerous medal winners in major competitions.

Husband Tian Bingyi is currently the deputy chief coach of China's Table Tennis and Badminton Administrative Center, while his wife, Zhou Jihong, is the captain of China's diving team. As badminton and diving are two of China's best sports, the couple has been responsible for the most medals in China. They helped to win 13 gold medals at the recent Doha Asian Games, and 18 at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.

Both Tian and Zhou were successful athletes before they became coaches.

Tian and his playing partner won the Thomas Cup three times in succession, the major men's international team competition in world badminton, in 1986, 1988 and 1990. After his retirement, Tian became the coach for the women's doubles team in 1993. His team won the first gold medal in badminton for China at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1998.

Zhou won the first Olympic gold medal in China's diving history in 1984, at the tender age of 19. As head of the national diving team, Zhou led her team to 11 gold medals in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, a record in Chinese diving history.

The couple's love story started in 1981. They met at a Mid-autumn Festival banquet held by the sporting bureau. As they chatted, they were surprised to find that they had lived in the same street in their hometown and that they had got a lot in common, especially in regard to their views about sport.

They got married in 1993 and Zhou was out of work for five years before taking up the role of team captain. As the couple were busy training their own teams, they often "met in the air" according to Zhou no sooner was one of them off the plane than the other was on board.

The couple are now busy preparing for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. As the playing rules in badminton have been adjusted, Tian is concerned about his team. Meanwhile, Zhou is trying her best to train up her athletes, to defend the "dream team" title in 2008.

Amazon couple Yu Yu and Li Guoqing

Though many Chinese may not be familiar with the couple's names, few will have not logged onto their website, www.dangdang.com.

Known as the Chinese version of Amazon, the biggest on-line bookstore in China has been one of the most successful e-commerce ventures, with registered users totalling more than 37 million.

The couple's love story also had a surprising start. Yu Yu met her husband and future partner Li Guoqing in the summer of 1996. Li was by then already a successful publisher of professional books, while Yu had been working for five years as a mergers and acquisitions consultant after getting an MBA from New York University.

The duo fell in love at first sight. Within three months of meeting they were married and soon hatched the idea to model Amazon and build the first online bookstore in China.

Their marriage is often labelled by the media as "socialism with Chinese characteristics", as the match is the mix of financial savvy and entrepreneurial chutzpah that is currently driving China's billion-dollar piece of the digital economy.

Li Yapeng and Faye Wong

Chinese pop diva Faye Wong and her actor husband Li Yapeng are always on the front pages of the Chinese media's entertainment media.

As Wong is one of the most successful singers in Asia and Li, a top Chinese TV actor, the couple have been the focus of unprecedented media attention. Competition within the media for snaps of the couple became so heated in 2006 it was said that any paparazzi able to take a picture of their new-born daughter would earn as much as 500,000 yuan, the highest price ever for one news photo in China.

But the couple's ability to generate cash has greatly exceeded their power in the entertainment world. On November 20, 2006 they set up the Smile Angle Foundation in the name of their daughter Li Yan, who was born with a cleft lip and later got surgery in the United States. As the first private charity in China set up to help children with cleft-lips, the fund has been run with surprising efficiency under the direction of the couple. In one month, the charity generated 12 million yuan and was able to help around 2,400 children with cleft lips. Even former US president George Bush senior, donated $10,000 to the fund on his last trip to China in December.

To call on more people to do their bit for children with cleft lips, the couple held a grand charity banquet in Beijing on December 26, attracting hundreds of big-name Chinese stars like Zhao Wei, Xu Jinglei and Na Ying. In one night the couple raised 3.45 million yuan in donations, a record amount.

In holy matrimony

Before they married, former CCTV talk show host, Yang Lan, and her husband, businessman Wu Zheng, had both been divorced. As Yang said, love and marriage are blind. "Once you meet someone you love, it's so easy just to marry him and have a baby. A lot of people don't hesitate."

But the marriage between Yang and Wu was not so simple.

Yang's story is like a legend. Born in 1968 in Beijing, she is now one of China's 50 most successful entrepreneurs and probably China's wealthiest self-made woman, thanks to her husband.

Yang was 21 in her last year at the Beijing Foreign Studies University in 1990 when she landed the job of hosting the Zhengda Variety Show on CCTV. The program helped her become a household name in China. Despite her celebrity, Yang quit the show after four years to go to New York where she obtained a master's degree at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.

Yang's TV hosting skills are matched by a keen mind for business. In 1999, with her husband, Wu, whose English name is Bruno, she started her own media company, Sun Television cyber networks (Sun TV). Yang is now listed as one of the richest women in China by Forbes magazine.

She said her love for Wu is very natural. "I can't explain why I love him," she said. "We are different in terms of personality. He is creative and audacious, while I am mild and conservative. But when our ideas come together, we have that sparkle."

Since they married in 1995, 14 years have past and they now have two children. Yang cooks for her family when she is at home. "Sometimes I cook well but sometimes I cook very badly," she said. "But he said as long as I cook, he will finish it all."

Now, the couple do lots of charity work together. Yang held a charity ball to raise money for 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games this January. All the proceeds will go directly into a special fund for the 2007 Special Olympics. As well as the ticket sales, money will be raised through a special charity auction on the night. Works from Yang's personal art collection and souvenirs from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Special Olympics' global ambassador, will be among the items up for sale.

(China Daily 02/07/2007 page4)