She was promised that more than a 1,000 young men wanted to meet her and propose to her.

And attractive Chan Juan, who cycled more than 2,000 kilometers from Guangzhou to Shanghai to meet potential husbands, was more than ready to meet Mr Right.

But on Saturday at the match-making party in a city hotel, only two men showed up. And neither of them came from Shanghai.

But a girl who cycles 2,000 kilometers is not going to be daunted by a little thing like that. The 25-year-old said she had prepared herself for such an eventuality and was not upset.

"It gives me more time to talk to them and it is a great pleasure to talk to them both," she said.

"More than 30 candidates from Shanghai said they would attend the party but they didn't appear," said Huang Xintao, who planned the event.

The lucky men came from Jinan, Shandong Province, and Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, and both seemed to scrub up quite well. Before the men could start talking to the girl they had to provide written details including their monthly salary, accommodation and total assets.

Huang said Chan Juan's high standards for her future husband were one reason so few showed up.

"She wanted an elite group of men, like company managers," Huang said. "These people have a strong sense of 'face' (mianzi in Chinese), and they would feel deeply upset if they showed up but were not chosen in the first round."

Chan Juan's criteria for the ideal husband meant candidates had to be at least 1.73 meters tall, have a monthly income of not less than 15,000 yuan (US$2,192), and must own their own apartments.

Chan Juan spent 100,000 yuan in her quest for love and knew that it might not work out.

"I have tried to find happiness and that's enough."

Chan Juan hopes to stay in Shanghai for some time, visiting friends and relatives, and perhaps meeting other possible men. "But there won't be any big parties like this again," she said.

(Shanghai Daily December 29, 2008)