Forget about Paris. Start packing for Foshan, the newly minted, most romantic city in China, at least according to Amazon.

The industrial city in central Guangdong province was rated as the most romantic city in China by the online shopping website based on the total number of love-themed books, e-books and CDs sold in China last year, Yangcheng Evening News reported.

Shanghai and Beijing, two traditional fixtures on China’s top 10 most romantic lists, didn’t make the cut.

The result did not prompt much celebration. Instead, netizens greeted the news with sneers and skepticism. Among 26 people interviewed by the newspaper following the release of the results, 21 respondents said it was bukaopu, meaning “unreliable” in English.

Here are some reactions online:

Zhang Zai Huangge (张在欢哥) wrote:

I don’t think buying love related books defines whether a city is romantic or not. Rather it shows a person’s loneliness. Why else would you buy so many love related books online?

Dongguan, the epicenter of the recent crackdown on the sex trade, was ranked third on the list. Some fervent Dongguan supporters protested over several grumpy online posts.

“Foshan is the most romantic city? Dongguan should be the first,” wrote 耿炎Glaube.

Liuan Xiaofeng (柳岸熏风) seconded and wrote “Dongguan indeed is quite romantic.”

A local in Foshan, Mr Zhou, said he can’t understand how Foshan placed first. “Every time I want to go on a date with my girlfriend we don’t know where to go. Instead, we have to travel to Guangzhou for a date. Where exactly is romantic in Foshan?” Zhou asked.

The full list is Foshan, Ningbo, Dongguan, Changsha, Wuxi, Kunming, Chongqing, Chengdu, Shenyang and Dalian.

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