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| Lin Hai uses a pseudonym because he doesn't want people to think he is gay or unable to have sex. Photo: Courtesy of Lin Hai |
When Lin Hai (pseudonym), an ordinary employee of a consulting company, opened up a dating website in October 2005 for his bachelor friend, he had no idea that eight years later it would become the largest online dating platform for people who want a relationship without sex.
Lin's friend was electrocuted at his job in a factory, causing severe burns over his body. "Although the rest of his body was healed, he lost his ability to have sex permanently," Lin said. "His girlfriend soon broke up with him. That really depressed him. He worried that he would be lonely for the rest of his life."
Lin did not want to see his childhood friend end up alone. Using his knowledge of website design, he started an online dating site for people seeking a relationship without sex. "I knew that my friend definitely wasn't the only one who wanted to have a sexless marriage," he said. "At that time, there was still little attention being paid to this group of people."
Within a few months, he completed the Guangxi-based website, wx920.net, but it didn't draw much traffic until local media heard about Lin's story and reported it. A month later, his friend found a wife. "It was a girl who was raped in her childhood and wanted to find someone to have a sexless marriage," Lin said.
Now the website has almost 200,000 registered users. Since it was established in 2005, over 20,000 couples have been formed.
As a pioneering website providing a dating service for people not interested in sex, it has drawn the attention of domestic and overseas media such as the People's Daily, CCTV, Phoenix Satellite Television, Reuters and Deutsche Welle.
But despite the attention, Lin does not find running the website easy. In fact, he's encountered some insidious dangers.
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