"He radiates this warmth that makes you want to touch him and hold him. He appears to be the kind of guy a woman can trust. He gives people a sense of security, which is something most Hong Kong men cannot offer," the 32-year-old marketing executive said.

He is Joseph Chang Hsiao-chuan, a 33-year-old Taiwanese actor known as the "national husband" (link in Chinese) across the Chinese-speaking world. More important than his looks, Chang's Mr. Nice Guy image gives hope to women who have lost faith in men. In Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China, where cheating and keeping mistresses is common, a loyal and honest man seems to many to be a dying breed. "Too many men cheat," said Fong.

The number three is a scary one for Chinese women-in Chinese, "little three" (xiaosan) means "mistress." It's a very real fear.

In Hong Kong, the gossip pages of newspapers and magazines are littered with stories of wealthy businessmen openly flaunting their mistresses, and the women's machinations to vie for the top mistress spot. Casino mogul Stanley Ho, for example, has four wives-the family broke out into open warfare (paywall) over the division of Ho's assets in 2011 when the tycoon, then 89, fell seriously ill. Real-estate billionaire Joseph Lau, who has a long-term partner, published a full-page ad in a local newspaper last year clarifying his breakup with an ex-girlfriend, including the financial details. He has children with both women and a late wife. Actor Jackie Chan had a child with his mistress. The husband of Hong Kong's new leader Carrie Lam had to publicly deny rumours that he has a mistress in the UK.

Nor is cheating limited to tycoons and celebrities. The number of mainland mistresses of Hong Kong men was big enough to turn certain areas in southern China into "concubine villages" (paywall) in the 1990s.