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REGIONAL> Society
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Madam Rose and her online love life
By Zhou Lihua and Jiang Qi (China Daily Hubei Bureau)
Updated: 2009-05-25 18:44 Every morning around nine, 54-year-old Zhou Qiangling turns on the computer, opens the video online communication and translation software, adjusts the direction of the camera and then sits down in front of the computer and waits patiently. Just then an online invitation rings at nine o'clock sharp. Excitedly Zhou immediately presses the receiving button and a few seconds later, a foreign guy appears in the video. " Hi, Hello!" Zhou raises her voice and types the Chinese character " Wo Lai Le" , (I am coming in English) and sends it to the guy. The guy smiles and replies, " You look nice today!" Skillfully copying the sentence and pasting it on the translator blank, Zhou gets the Chinese meaning of the sentence within seconds. She smiles happily, and throws him a kiss while facing the camera to say, " Thank you, I love you" .
According to Zhou, the American guy also has translation software at hand and gets the meaning of Zhou's words the same way as Zhou. The guy is Zhou's American boyfriend Ricky M Steinberg, a 58 years old theater executive in Los Angeles. They met on a matching website called China Love last year. After a few days' email exchange, they thought the other was the one they were searching for. So a face-to-face date was settled. They spent ten days happily together in Shanghai with Zhou's son An Dong last May. And then the guy went back to Los Angeles and Zhou came back to her home in Wuhan, capital city of Central China's Hubei province. From then on, the two, who both do not understand the language of each other, started video chatting on line. To many people's surprise, they have already used this method for communicating for about half a year. " Though the translation software could not fully transfer our meanings and sometimes even made some stupid mistakes, both of us still enjoy our relationship and talking very much," Zhou said. With the Internet playing an increasing role in our lives, it's not surprising that the Internet has become an electronic matchmaker. Many people think of the Internet as a youth-oriented medium, but Zhou Qiangling is an exception, she not only found his love through internet, but also takes great pleasure in surfing on the internet just like young people do. In 2006, Zhou Qiangling, became known as Madam Rose, first touched with Internet. She not only established her own blog, but also pasted some sexy photos and net love letters on it. This 54-year-old single mother has become an Internet celebrity in China because she chats frankly about her love life. Her postings may be mild by Western standards. However, she has caused controversy among the Chinese online community for being "distasteful", "slutty" and "perverse". " I just did what many older women always thought about doing but were too afraid to try. And I view blogging as a kind of performance. It's all new to me, but I think I'll be fine as long as I'm open and honest." she said. Zhou's son, 24-year-old An Dong, who is doing a master's degree in public health, supports her mother's cyber adventures. "I just want her to be happy, and it's a good way for her to get used to modern life. But she should cut down the hours, as she has been writing a blog for 10 hours." he says. Madam Rose has no illusions about being single. Divorced for 17 years, she knows the pain of going to bed alone. The Internet gives her a space to live and write about her fantasies that she missed out when she was young. Even so, she is not explicit. " Now I think I might come across the one who drew me out of loneliness, even though we are separated by the Pacific Ocean, I will run my new life bravely and honestly." Madam Rose says. |
