Desperately seeking ... anyone

ESWN introduces us to Paul Gillis, a Canadian man who is introducing himself to the entire city of Hefei, in Anhui Province. He's looking for a wife -- a Chinese wife, we assume -- and he has taken out a giant billboard in the center of a city that he hopes will help him find true love, or at least someone he can get engaged to. A translation from Wenxue City:

At the Times Squares plaze in the city of Hefei, there is a large outdoor advertisement board. The principal character is Paul Gillis from Canada. The advertisement board is approximately 20 square meters in area, and the headline is "Foreigner Seeking Marriage" next to the smiling principal character, and it is very eye-catching. The biography and objectives are provided in Chinese and English. When this advertisement came out, it attracted many citizens to look at it. Many citizens think that Paul Gillis is admirable for being courageous enough to openly express his longing and pursuit for a good life. According to information, Paul Gillis is the first foreigner to use an large outdoor advertisement door to seek marriage.

From what we can make out from the small print on the billboard, Gillis is 52 years old and 1.71 meters tall. He is a university graduate who does business in Canada. He is financially secure, responsible, honest kind and non-smoking. He has two children, ages 25 and 29. He is interested in travel, internet, movies and books. He has been an English teacher in Hefei for more than two years. He loves beautiful Hefei, and is looking for a "Chinese lady who understands English." She must be intelligent, pretty and under the age of 45.

That all sounds normal enough (except for the giant billboard part) but it makes us wonder: Why does this guy need to go to such an extreme to make this happen? You don't have to walk very far in most major or semi-major Chinese cities to find a gray-haired-average-looking-and-slightly-overweight white guy on the arm of some relatively attractive young "Chinese lady." We always thought that kind of arrangement happened pretty easily here. We assume he's already tried internet personals? A little more discreet, and that way your 20-something-year-old kids don't have to read about your "admirable" and "courageous" quest if they happen to click on a random link on Torontoist.

We're assuming this Paul Gillis is not the Paul Gillis who is a former professional hockey player fond of uttering sports cliches. It is likely, however, that he is the Paul Gillis who wants to buy "pet flakes".

UPDATE: We owe Paul Gillis an apology