Sex and the Chinese city

“Su Fei” is becoming an internet phenomenon in China – testament to the power of sex and the capital city of the people’s republic and to the charms of Anna Sophie Loewenberg. The young American is searching for romance in her TV show Sexy Beijing at danwei.org. Her alter ego Su Fei (Sophie), drew more than 300,000 viewers on YouTube and on 56.com, a Chinese site, more than half a million people have checked out her hit inaugural episode “Looking for Double Happiness”.

In a manner similar to her counterpart, Carrie Bradshaw, the lead character in Sex and the City on which the show is based, Su Fei ponders: “In a city where everyone seems to be part of a couple, just how exactly do I land a date in Beijing?”

As well as following a thirtysomething’s hunt for love, Loewenberg, the 32-year-old who writes and edits the show, also interviews the city’s inhabitants, uncovering a more light-hearted side of Beijing than is traditionally seen.

Cavorting in a bikini on a beach in an episode on the Chinese frenzy for wedding photographs, or asking elderly Beijing residents how they met their match, Su Fei seems able to persuade the most unlikely people to open up and chat about their love lives – or lack thereof.