When Alexander Pieter Cirk flew from Holland to China he thought that the journey would be the start of a beautiful love story. Instead, the 41-year-old ended up in hospital.
Cirk arrived in Hunan province expecting to meet his on-line girlfriend, a 26-year-old Chinese woman, Ms Zhang.
But after waiting in vain for 10 days the love sick man was taken to hospital suffering from physical exhaustion.
Cirk told Chinese media that he met Ms Zhang, in an app two months ago and romance blossomed. He decided to fly to visit her, but when he got to Hunan no-one was waiting to meet him.
Ms Zhang has since shared her side of the story. “We had advanced our romantic relationship but later he seemed a little callous towards me,” she told Hunan TV.
“One day he sent me a photo of air tickets abruptly and I thought it was a joke. He didn’t contact me later.”
Ms Zhang also told the media that by the time Mr Cirk arrived at the airport, she was away having plastic surgery in another province and had turned off her phone.
The social media response to the story has been mixed,with unsympathetic comments ranging from “he must be stupid” to “Perhaps she did go to the airport, saw what he looked like, and promptly turned back around.”
Less brutal comments included: “Here’s a guy taking a relationship seriously, don’t play around with his feelings,” and. “If you don’t want him anymore, tell him so he can go home.”
But perhaps the story will have a happy ending after all – Ms Zhang told reporters that she would be keen to meet Cirk after her recovery, saying she was still interested in maintaining their relationship.
