Monday 31 January 2011

Chinese Love Links - First Impressions

So I've signed up for Platinum membership of Chinese Love Links. This is a great Chinese dating site, and I really wished I'd used it in 2009 instead of Chnlove.

Chinese Love Links has a flat rate fee (around $160 for an annual subscription). On Chnlove I had to pay around $5 each time I sent a Chinese lady an email. This paid for translation costs, but this was a bit of a sham as some of the ladies could write English anyway.

I've been pretty much swamped with admirers on Chinese Love Links. Unlike Chnlove, the majority of the ladies are someone I might be interested in. The only timewasters have been:

  • A few ladies with hidden profiles. They say they're hiding from creeps and jerks, but I worry they might be scammers.
  • Nanning ladies - sorry but I would avoid any ladies from Nanning, as there seem to be a lot of scammers from this city.
  • Young girls. I've had a few 22 year olds contact me, and the age difference is pushing it a bit.
  • Location, location, location. Not many ladies are reading that I only want to meet ladies in a particular Province. Grrrr. They are very lovely, but China is too vast to visit ladies in 5 different cities on one trip.
I am impressed with the quality of the lady on Chinese Love Links. There are many beautiful ladies on this site. Chinese ladies tend not to smoke or drink alcohol, and when they go out in the sun they take a sun umbrella with them. It really does make a difference! Apart from being beautiful, these ladies are well educated, and many have really good jobs and careers. Mail order brides these are not.

Many of the Chinese Love Links ladies speak and write pretty good English. Thankfully this time I can write basic Chinese, so that is something that really impresses them.

Bizarrely, the two ladies I have spent most time talking to are both Sichuan girls (despite living in one of the coastal cities). I have written it before and I'll mention it again - the Sichuan lady is the beautiful lady. I'm getting good at picking them out on Chinese dating sites. If beauty is your top priority then set your search for a city such as Chongqing, Chengdu or one of the cities bordering the Sichuan region (like Changsha). P.S. Sichuan food is also top notch.

So if you're thinking of finding a beautiful Asian wife, then give Chinese Love Links a try.

Japan Cupid - It's Difficult to Find a Japanese Wife Here!

So I've been registered with the Japan Cupid Japanese dating site for a few weeks now, and I've not had much luck so far. I have only been contacted by a few of ladies, and one of them was most likely a scammer. Another was 9 years older than the maximum age range I'd specified. I hate this - dating sites can be a real waste of time when people don't bother to read your requirements.

So what's up with Japanese ladies?

I have a few problems with Japan Cupid:
  • Japanese ladies are shy, and they don't seem to like making the first move.
  • Many ladies haven't uploaded photos, which means they're pretty much wasting their time. I mean, come on girls, do you seriously think a man will be interested in a lady with no photos?
  • I'm not American. Asian ladies love American men, but the love is strongest in Japan.
Beyond this though, I think that many Japanese ladies are really making a half hearted attempt at finding love online, or they've got the Western disease of looking for Mr 100%. I know a Chinese girl who is marrying an American man. Let me tell you that she spent all day, every day on Cherry Blossoms looking for a husband. She was dedicated, and it paid off. Many Filipinas are even more determined - a Filipina friend befriended me on Facebook, then befriended my richest friend! You go girl!!!!

In the UK there's a TV show here a comedian called Justin Lee Collins travels to Japan to investigate Japanese culture. I'm not his biggest fan, but I enjoyed the programme. The first episode started off looking at the gothic lolita girls in Harajuku. So far nothing different from all the other TV shows about Japan. But then he investigated some less well known aspects of Japan, like life-like female dolls that men can buy for some female company. And there was a great insight into Shinjuku's host bars, where women can pay large sums of money to drink and smoke with cute good looking men. He also attended a class where Japanese people can learn how to date members of the opposite sex.

The upshot of this show (as well as Japan's plunging birthrate) seems to be that Japanese people just seem to have gone off the idea of getting married and having kids. It seems pretty difficult for Japanese people to find love in Japan, so for us foreigners maybe it is an impossible task.

By contrast, I signed up to the Filipina dating site Filipina Heart and I was swamped with interest. Wow, I had to hide my profile, as I was getting more attention than I could handle. I've also had a lot of interest on Chinese Love Links. So it looks like my next trip to Asia will be to China. There are some very high quality ladies on Chinese Love Links, but that's the topic for future blog post.

Thursday 27 January 2011

Is Your Filipina Girlfriend Really 18 Or Over?

I've been doing some reading about the murkier side of Filipina dating. And there are some disturbing aspects that you need to be aware of before you start chatting to Filipinas online.

One worrying aspect of Filipina dating is that there are plenty of stories of men innocently dating girls who are several years younger than what they claim to be. Are these stories true? Let's do some investigating...

So are there really underage Filipinas looking for Western men online? Today I had a look on Filipina Match.com. It's a dating website aimed largely at the Filipina/Western man dating scene. Without too much searching I managed to find two 17 year old Filipinas on the site.

There are many other Filipina dating sites, and it's more difficult to gauge whether there are underage girls on them. For one thing a lot of sites only allow you to enter a minimum age of 18. Some sites may prevent a date of birth being entered that would mean the girl is younger than 18. But there's usually nothing to stop a 15 or 16 year old girl selecting her age as 18.

Some sites allow members to submit photographic ID as evidence of their identity and age. It's best to only use high quality dating sites such as these. However, on Filipina Cupid there aren't that many Filipinas who have verified their identities or date of birth. Even if they did, it's easy to get round this check. Many Filipinas come from large families, and they normally have a few sisters. It would be easy enough to borrow their older sister's ID, and it would take a very keen eye to spot the difference between two Filipina sisters.

So yes, there are underage girls on some Filipina dating sites. Before you get too involved with a Filipina, make absolutely certain that she's 18 or over. This is especially important if you plan on visiting her in the Philippines. A common way to scam Western men is to set them up with underage girls, then demand several thousand dollars in order to avoid the police being called. Of course the police are often in on it, so it's a lose-lose situation for the man.

Of course, dating a very young girl is setting you up for all kinds of other potential problems. If you're a Western man looking for a Filipina bride then it's best to stick to the girls who are at least 25. If you yourself are younger than 30 then it's a far better idea to look for a girlfriend in your own country, or to spend time in Asia so you can meet Asian girls in person.

Tuesday 25 January 2011

First Impressions of Chinese Cupid

So yesterday I signed up for full membership of Chinese Cupid. I've been a free member for a while, but it's time to start contacting some ladies to visit in China later in the year.

I like the Cupid Media sites. They are much cheaper than the pay per contact sites. In 2009 I was burned badly on Chnlove. I ended up spending over $400 on that site in less than 6 months. Yes I met a great lady though the site, and visiting her in China was fantastic. But $400 is still a lot of money. By comparison I've just paid around $165 for an annual Platinum membership of Chinese Cupid.

There are some great ladies on Chinese Cupid. You can tell that Asia is booming as we're rapidly moving out of mail order bride territory here. The ladies I've seen have great jobs, dress well and are very well educated. This site really does blow the poor uneducated farm girl mail order bride perception out of the window. It won't belong before Asia overtakes America and Western Europe as the hub of global power.

Anyway, back to Chinese Cupid. What's good about Chinese Cupid is that many of the ladies speak and write good English. If you're new to online dating or haven't been to Asia many times then it's much easier to stick to talking to these girls. Thankfully due to the excellent search facilities on the site it's possible to specify that you only want to search for ladies with good English skills (you can actually search on other languages as well). You can also write to them in Chinese - and I'll tell you that this will really impress them!

Any yes, on Chinese Cupid you can talk to as many ladies as you want, which is much better than Chnlove. A lot of the ladies have also posted natural photos of themselves. Obviously some ladies post rubbish photos but not every girl in China is a computer geek with ninja photo uploading skills.

Japan Cupid Shy Ladies

Japanese ladies have a reputation for being a little shy, and a little reserved. But I've noticed that many of the ladies contacting me on the Japan Cupid dating site haven't even uploaded a photo of themselves.

So what's going on? Japan is of course one of the wealthiest nations on the planet, and it's difficult to imagine many ladies not owning a digital camera or mobile phone with photo uploading features. Maybe Japanese ladies are just to shy to post their photos. I know that Japanese ladies often prefer to use an introduction agency rather than a publically visible dating site.

Another possibility is that they don't want anyone to know that they're looking for a foreign husband. I get the impression that having a foreign husband isn't such a status symbol in Japan as it is in China. Chinese people tend to be much more wealth and money orientated, and to many Chinese ladies what is a better sign of wealth than a Western husband on their arm? I've also found that Chinese ladies tend to be a lot more confident than Japanese ladies. Chinese ladies usually love to get their photograph taken, so when they come to register for a site like Cherry Blossoms or Chinese Love Links then they have no problem finding photos of themselves.

Of course there is a darker explanation, and that is that photo-less ladies on Japan Cupid are simply scam ladies. Whatever they are, I'm steering well clear of them, and I suggest you be wary as well.

Friday 21 January 2011

3 Ways of Finding a Japanese Girlfriend

Japan is a fantastic country. I know - I've visited Japan four times.

Many men like the idea of getting a Japanese girlfriend. Here's three ways of finding a Japanese girlfriend:
  1. Live in Japan. This is the best way to get a Japanese girlfriend. Live in Japan and you'll have your pick of beautiful Japanese ladies. Many Japanese ladies are curious about Western men, and having a Western boyfriend is often on their list of things to do. Just bear in mind that just because a Japanese girl wants a Western boyfriend, it doesn't necessarily mean she wants a Western husband. If you're young and educated then you'll find it fairly easy to find an English language teaching job in Japan. Another option is to work for a multinational corporation with offices in Tokyo. In order to do this you'll usually have to work in a field such as IT or finance, and have at least a basic knowledge of the Japanese language.
  2. Sign up to Japanese Cupid. Japanese Cupid is probably the best Japanese dating site for Western men looking for Japanese girlfriends. The site is user-friendly and has some great features. There are plenty of female members on the site. On the downside, finding a Japanese girlfriend is much more difficult than finding a girlfriend from an Asian country such as Thailand or the Philippines.
  3. Try a Japanese introduction agency. Japanese ladies tend to be quite shy, and many of them on dating sites are too shy to even upload photos of themselves. Introduction agencies offer a more discreet service. There are a few introduction agencies that offer to match Japanese ladies with Western men. Just bear in mind that you usually have to travel to Japan in order to meet the ladies you're introduced to through the agency, and that costs money.

Filipina Wife Age Difference

If you're looking for a younger Asian wife, then probably the best place to head for is the Philippines. Large numbers of Filipinas like the idea of finding a husband from overseas. Filipinas make great wives. Filipino people are used to living overseas, and as many as 10% of the population already do so. Many Filipinas speak English, and if they don't it's much easier for them to learn English than it is for a Chinese or Thai lady to learn English. Another great thing about the Philippines is that the majority of the population is Catholic. Marriage is taken much more seriously than in Thailand or China, and Filipinas are looking to marry for life.

Sign up to any Asian dating site and you'll be bombarded with interest from young Filipinas. Whatever age you are, you'll probably receive a lot of interest from 20 year old girls.

While all this attention is flattering, just be aware that marrying a much younger lady can be hazardous. Here's a useful age difference suitability calculator to see if your Asian wife may be too young for you. It's worth bearing in mind that Filipinas do tend to prefer older men than do Asian women from other countries such as Japan, China and South Korea.

By all means don't avoid the younger ladies. However, bear in mind that the under 25's are far more likely to be scammers. They are often much less marriage orientated than older women, so dating them can be much more stressful.

Good luck with your search for a Filipina wife.

Thursday 20 January 2011

Online dating in China

The internet is incredibly popular in China. When they're not playing QQ Farm or shopping online, Chinese ladies are increasingly signing themselves up to dating sites in the hope of meeting a rich man on a white horse.

Here's an article about online dating in China. The article explains which of the many Asian dating sites Chinese ladies prefer. There's also information about how to chat to Chinese ladies using instant messaging and webcams.

Choosing the best Asian dating sites

I've been using Asian online dating sites for a while now. At first I was totally confused, and I had no idea what site I should be using in order to meet Chinese girls online. I ended up at Chnlove. It seemed cheap at first, but costs very quickly escalated. I think I ended spending over $400 on that site. That's a lot of money considering that the girl I ended up visiting in China knew some English, and I learned enough Chinese characters to be able to talk to her via MSN and Skype.

I wished I'd known about the other excellent dating sites out there before parting with so much hard earned cash on Chnlove.

So if you're new to the Asian dating scene, then preserve your cash and read my article about the best Asian dating sites.

Friday 14 January 2011

Comparing Asian Women

If (like me!) you're not sure which Asian ladies would make the best wife for you, then this article about comparing Asian women is a fascinating read. I'm surprised to say that I actually agree with the author on many of the points he makes.

So far I've dated a Chinese lady. Yes she was beautiful. In fact the women in her home town are the most beautiful I have ever seen. And yet... I do worry about Chinese ladies growing older. They can get very controlling. Most Chinese families are pretty ambitious, so don't expect to put your feet up if you have a Chinese woman breathing down your neck. They're not called Dragon Ladies for nothing you know.

Onto Japan. I've been on dates with a number of different Japanese ladies. All were exceptionally nice, with beautiful manners. But at the same time, they were quite timid. While a lot of guys like this, I just wonder how long a relationship with a Japanese woman would last. It could get pretty boring.

Like the author of the piece, I've heard so many good things about Filipinas. Yes they can be clingy, but if you're looking for a wife and not a short term girlfriend (of the sort you can find in Thailand) then Filipinas are worth considering. Another great thing about Filipinas is that they have very womanly figures.

Finally I'll agree with the author is that the best Asian ladies are in Asia. Go to Japan or China and you'll be stunned by the beauty of the local ladies. I'm arranging my trip to the Philippines!

Wednesday 12 January 2011

Japan Cupid - My Experiences So Far...

So I finally signed up for a full membership of Japan Cupid. I signed up for a whole year, and I got a big discount. I was pleased about that.

The Cupid Media dating sites are quite good. They have great search facilities and it's easy to contact the members. On the downside the image loader is rubbish and doesn't always work in my web browser. There are also plenty of profiles on the site that haven't been updated for a long time.

What I've noticed about Japan Cupid is that I've had a lot more interest in my dating profile since I signed up for full membership. I will warn you though that finding a Japanese wife or girlfriend isn't easy. For one thing Japanese ladies are quite shy and reserved, so they won't be beating a path down to your door. You need to go and chase them. The other thing is of course that Japanese ladies don't need to marry for economic reasons or to get a visa in order to leave Japan. Sign up for Filipino Cupid and you'll be swamped with interest. Don't expect the same from Japan Cupid.

Sadly now that my profile is listed amongst the Platinum members, I'm also more visible to scammers. I'll remind you that dating site scammers are hard at work on just about every dating site there is. Thankfully they're quite easy to spot on Japan Cupid. Many dating site scammers are from West African, and it is highly unlikely that your average dating site scammer will be able to pull the wool over the eyes of somebody who is knowledgeable about Japanese culture.

My one tip is to stay well away from ladies who haven't posted a photo of themselves on the site. They might be shy, but they're probably more likely to be a scammer!

Asian Romance Tours

Asian online dating is hazardous due to the number of scammers and timewasters on your average Asian dating website. There are tens of thousands of members on many of the more popular Asian dating websites. In fact DateInAsia claims to have over ONE MILLION members. That's a lot of Asian ladies!

So if you're too busy to sort through all the personals on dating sites, then why not consider a romance tour? On a romance tour you'll get to meet face to face with dozens of beautiful single Asian ladies. This is a great option if you're scared of dating site scammers. At least on a tour you'll get to meet the Asian ladies in person, so you'll know that they definitely exist!

Here's more information about Asian romance tours.

Tuesday 4 January 2011

New Russian Dating Sites Guide

Interested in finding a foreign bride from Russia or Eastern Europe? The Asian Dating Sites Guide now has a sister website - the Russian Dating Sites Guide. Over the coming months this site will be expanded to cover the basics of finding a bride from Russia or Eastern Europe. Information will include:

  • Dating site, introduction agency or romance tour - which is best?
  • Which dating sites are good, and which to avoid.
  • How to avoid Russian dating site scams and scammers.
  • Tips and tricks on finding the beautiful Russian lady of your dreams.
Find out more at http://www.russiandatingsitesguide.com/