Many Chinese youngsters are intoxicated in "falling in love" and "getting married" in an "unreal" world, as more on-line games offer such experience to them whose minds are full of romance.

Parents and schools worried that such on-line games would cause prematurity of children and affect their study.

A mother surnamed Xiong has a 14-year-old son, who often stayed all night in the Internet cafe playing games recently. One day, the son came home with joy and told his mother he had "earned" some billion yuan in the game and had got a "wife" and a "son".

"I was very surprised to see him addicted so much to the grown-up's activities," the mother said, adding that the son spent all the pocket money in the cafe and even skipped classes.

On-line marriage games are so popular that the young people didn't even care they were not real and sometimes the "couple" did not really know their partner's gender.

Local media of Kunming in Yunnan Province has reported similar story happened to a high school boy named Yan, who married a girl named Xiao Fei in an on-line game called "Crazy tanks".

In the game, the "couple" took wedding photos, had a sweet honeymoon and adopted a child. "We love each other so much that we can't live without the other," said the boy.

The deep affection finally made him decide to find Xiao Fei in real life. "I must meet her in reality and will love her. I'm planning it now," he said with hope in his eyes.

Many on-line games allow players to marry and live together, Yan said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2004)