A Website employee puts a band on the wrist of a single woman to help her find Mr Right at an office building in downtown Shanghai yesterday. The wristband is inscribed with a code that matches another wristband worn by a single man.

Love is in the air as matchmaking Websites and young singles prepare for Saturday's Singles Day, which this year will feature a singles party and an online scheme to get office workers better acquainted.

Matchmaking Website marry5.com will distribute 1,000 wristbands at office buildings in the city's central business district.

The wristbands, one type for men and another for women, are inscribed with a code which workers use to register their details online.

Once a person registers he or she can look up the details of the person with the corresponding code of the opposite sex and decide whether to seek them out.

"We are expecting white-collar workers to log on to the Website to find their Mr or Miss Right holding the same code," said Lincole Lam, the Website's manager.

The Website will also hold a get-together for wristband holders at Luxun Park in Hongkou District on Saturday.

At many distribution sites yesterday noon, women asking for wristbands outnumbered men.

"It's a cool idea to try my luck," said Huang Min, 24, a female lawyer, adding that young men nowadays were too busy to spend time looking for love.

On Saturday, Love21cn.com, a Beijing-based matchmaking Website, will host a singles party in M-Factory Bar in Xuhui District.

The event has attracted 2,600 people, even though only the first 800 who sign up can go.

"It never occurred to us that so many people would love to come," said Gao Lei, one of the event's organizers.

A 28-year-old woman from western China surnamed Cheng said she was eager to find a partner at the party because she was ashamed of being single.

"All the friends around me have a boyfriend or husband, I feel lonely every night I stay at home by myself," she said.

Not everyone who is going to the party is on the hunt for a relationship - some are going to make friends or collect a few business cards.

"I love to go to these kinds of parties, but I'm not worried about my marriage at all," said Swee Chen, a fashion company employee who has just graduated from college. "I find knowing people of all styles is very interesting, but I never expect to find my Mr Right at these things."

Windy Chen, a psychology consultant, said women were more worried about marriage than men because they think finding a husband will get harder as they grow older.

"But the fact is that the more worried they get the harder it will be to find a suitable partner," said Chen. "And a marriage that is entered into without a lot of thought could damage a person's future."

Singles Day first started on the Internet, and has recently become popular with young people across China.