On www.yidilian.com, an online forum dedicated to long-distance relationships, nearly 50 percent of the forum members said they are in such relationships because their boyfriends or girlfriends are studying in another country.

在讨论异地恋的在社区www.yidilian.com上，近半数成员表示，由于另一半正在海外求学，所以导致自己身处异地恋中。

Yan Hua, a Beijing woman who married an American man last year, had a long-distance relationship with her future husband for three years before they married.

北京人严华（音译）于去年嫁给了一位美国人；婚前，她同未婚夫曾维持了三年的异地恋情。

They met each other at a mutual friend's wedding. Since the man worked in the US and Yan worked in Beijing, they mainly communicate through MSN and phone calls.

他们是在好友的婚礼上结识的。由于男方在美国工作，而严华的工作地点则在北京，他们大都通过MSN和电话来联络。严华说：“我们之间有一条雷打不动的规定，那就是无论什么情况，我们每天中午都会在MSN上交谈。”

She said their relationship persevered because both she and her future husband believed it had a future. During their three-year courtship, Yan's future husband came to China just four times, including their initial meeting at the wedding.

她说他们的恋情能够坚持下来，这都要归功于她和未婚夫对于未来的那份信念。在他们长达三年的爱情长跑中，严华的未婚夫只来过四次中国，这其中包括他们在那场婚礼上的初次相识。