First of all, China changes so rapidly that in order to know whether certain information is still valid, you have to look at the date at which is was published (including the information in this piece). A lot can change in China in just three years.

China has many pluses.

1. The people are very friendly and have a helpful attitude towards foreigners, especially the women. This doesn't mean that this helpfulness is selfless. Many Chinese, especially women in secretarial positions, value the opportunity to practice their English with a foreigner.

2. Many Chinese women are attracted to Western men. However, this doesn't mean that foreign men necessarily have an easy time establishing sexual relationships. In most cases, such relationships are prevented by the language barrier.

3. Many Chinese women, though not all of them, are definitely beautiful. And to the Western eye, if they start out beautiful, their faces age much slower than the faces of the women of most ethnicities, even slower than the faces of other Asian women. Women in today's China tend to marry late, often only in their late 20s, and they often only have one child, a fact that contributes to the perseverance of attractiveness up to an age at which women in other Asian countries have almost completely lost their sexual market value.

4. China is so huge, encompassing a fifth of the world's population, that you can go to many cities where you are exclusive indeed. Even if China shall draw the largest numbers of tourists in the world, foreigners will, for decades to come, not be a common sight in cities off the standard tourist track. Thus, if you want to avoid it, there will never be much competition from other men of the same ethnic background as yours (except, of course, if you are ethnically Chinese youself).

5. China is extremely good value. You can have a delicious meal for a dollar, a decent hotel room, even with free unlimited Internet access, for 15 to 20 dollars, and if you want to stay longer, you can get a furnished apartment from about 100 US dollars.

6. China is easy. You can enter on tourist visas as often as you want. You can easily obtain a multiple-entry business visa. As long as you speak English decently, you can land a job as English teacher within days of arriving in China, even if English is not your native language. If it is, you can easily obtain an official work permit, get a monthly salary of 500 to 1000 dollars, and a free apartment.

Now for the hard part:

1. The language barrier is enormous. For example, at provincial hotels, receptionist normally won't even understand such simple English words or phrases as "yes", "no", "how much", "room", or "English".

On the other hand, as a foreigner, you will have a hard time to speak even just the above words and phrases in Chinese in a proper manner.

My native language is German. I don't have problems with English. As a youngster, I spoke French good enough for people not to notice that I was German for, let's say, 15 minutes of conversation.

I speak, read, and write Indonesian (that's easy) and Thai, and you give me a week, and I can learn enough of a language to greet, or bargain prices, or tell a girl that she's beautiful.

But Chinese? If you're a Westerner with no background in tonal languages, then it is extremely difficult to make progress with spoken Chinese. You may practice for weeks, and you will find yourself to still make the same mistakes. If the person you speak to is not used to your sounds, and your limited Chinese vocabulary, he or she won't even understand your simplest statements.

I have met foreigners who have stayed for years in China, mostly as English teachers, and speak practically no Chinese.

By contrast, even though most foreigners don't even start trying, written Chinese is a manageable task. I don't mean that it wouldn't require effort. But if you spend time studying it, you will be able to register some progress every day. Anyway, the written language is independent from the spoken language, just like in Western languages the symbols for numbers are independent from the corresponding words. "8" means eight, whether you speak it in English, Swedish, or Suaheli.

Unfortunately, the language barrier has a major impact on your ability to socialize in China, and especially the girls you can be with.

As a Western man, you probably could, in China (when compared to other countries), have the highest frequency of love relationships. If only you could speak enough Chinese for simple conversations.

Don't underestimate the task. Willingness to spend hours every day on learning, will not be enough. You have to have an ear for sounds, and a talent to reproduce them with your vocal cords. And not everybody has this.

So, of all the minuses of China (though there aren't many), I consider the language barrier the most important one. Because it isn't likely that you will overcome this hurdle, your local contacts, including girlfriends, will likely be restricted to those who speak some English. And that's a tiny minority.

2. The second disadvantage of China is demographic in a more direct manner. Because of the one-child policy implemented some 25 years ago, China isn't a country with a prevalence of young people, as are the countries in Southeast Asia. The women one typically meets at places where locals converge who know at least some English are often in their late 20s or older. While many Chinese women in their mid-30s look better than American or European women of the same age, they don't look as sweet as Chinese girls at 19. If you are used to being with female partners who have a top sexual market value in their own communities (aged just below 20, with rather small bodies), than you will China is probably not for you.

Demographically, in China their number is much smaller than the number of men who aim for such catches (in Asia typically men above 30).