The app placed third on the list of most-downloaded social apps. Zhenai says its one-on-one streaming feature was especially popular during the holiday period. Which means plenty of people had a chance to listen to awkward first-time conversations such as this one that I overheard:

Woman: “You know, all of us have shortcomings, every person’s character is different and I myself have many areas where I need improvement.” (Goes on meandering about shortcomings for about 5 minutes.) “So what would you say were your weak spots?”

Man: “Erm…” (30 seconds of eerie silence.)

One-on-one live streaming is just one of the many adventurous options for meeting people on the app. Similar to Tinder, Zhenai allows swiping through profiles – except, in this case, getting a match leads to a direct voice call with the person.

Singing karaoke is another amusing way to meet a potential partner. The platform also has a short video feature. (If you're a female user, the short video feed consists almost entirely of guys unflinchingly staring into the camera).

And although having a blind date through a video stream with an audience seems like an, uh, unorthodox way of dating, it seems to appeal to some people. The company's recently published data shows a surge in users, especially among those born after the 1980s and 1990s. And let’s be honest, it can hardly get more cringey than most reality dating shows.