Money can't buy love

Looks have knocked wealth off its pedestal as the most desirable love-match characteristic in lonely hearts' advertisements across China, a City University of Hong Kong survey has found.

Being tall, youthful and good-looking is now a virtual guarantee of a date, if not a life-long union, while money has taken a back seat.

'The emphasis on money is persistent, but youth, height and looks have become the main sales points in mainland personal ads,' principal researcher and City University's marketing professor Joe Zhou Nan said.

'One surprising result is the importance of height, which is not found in personal ads anywhere else in the world.

'For shorties, your chances are not good. And if you don't declare in your ad how tall you are, forget it. You're not going to get a reply.' The survey, titled 'For Love or Money', covers 3,790 personal advertisements from men and women in 10 national magazines from 1984 to 1995.

It found 99 per cent described their age, 93 per cent their height and 83 per cent their personal appearance. Only 42 per cent advertised their income.