What is online cohabitation?

"Online cohabitation" refers to virtual cohabitation on the Internet, that is, two netizens, based on the information provided on the Internet and after mutual agreement, fall in love, get married, and have children in a virtual suite. It originated from the "Utopia of Cohabitation" game launched by a women's website in Taiwan, and became a hit after being introduced to the mainland.

1. The emergence of the “online cohabitation” craze

"Online cohabitation" refers to virtual cohabitation on the Internet, that is, two netizens, based on the information provided on the Internet and after mutual agreement, fall in love, get married, and have children in a virtual suite. It originated from the "Utopia of Cohabitation" game launched by a women's website in Taiwan, and became a hit after being introduced to the mainland.

First, there are a large number of participants with diverse identities. In 2004, there were approximately 100,000 people participating in “online cohabitation” in China. In 2005, just one month after the establishment of the "Love Apartment" in Shanghai, it had 100,000 users (according to a report in China Youth Daily on August 17, 2005). The participants' ages ranged widely, from ten to forty or fifty years old. The majority of them are women aged between 20 and 25 and college students, including many married intellectuals.