Valentine's Day is a regular source of dread and dismay for singles, but businesses are offering a growing range of services to ensure that it needn't be such a nightmare.

Companies are offering diversified Valentine's Day services, and enterprising individuals are offering their own personalized arrangements.

Declaration of love

"We have prepared various services for Valentine's Day. Many customers made reservations one month early," Zhou Dongshu, manager of Beijing Liangyuan Wedding Service Co, told the Global Times.

Besides the traditional Valentine's Day services of sending flowers, arranging vacations and organizing parties and dates, the company is also offering a new "love professing" service, to make sure the key moment goes according to plan. It has proved particularly popular this year, Zhou noted.

Zhou's company has received more than 20 reservations for its love professing service for this year's Valentine's Day, and he had to turn down more reservations due to a lack of staff.

"It's a highly personalized service, which takes a lot of resources in terms of planning and execution, so we can't handle too many orders at one time," Zhou said.

The company has different plans and styles based on customers' personalities and preferences, and it also offers advice, Zhou noted.

"Some people are too shy to say 'I love you,' and some people need there to be a romantic scenario. We make plans accordingly, including deciding what the customer should say, what music should be used and preparing audio and video devices," Zhou said.

There are generally three kinds of customers for the service, said Zhou: shy people, romantic people and couples who have been together for quite a long time and want to revive their love.

Fang Hui, a postgraduate student in Beijing, is one of Zhou's customers. "I feel shy about saying 'I love you'. I am worried that I might be rejected if I just told her. I need their help and advice. But their services are a little expensive, more than 3,000 yuan," said Fang.

The charge depends on the costs and complexity of the scenario required, Zhou said. If the customer is rejected, Zhou would only charge one third of the price. "Generally, a girl won't reject a sincere man in a romantic setting. After all, he just wants a chance to be with her."

Matchmaking

There are numerous other companies providing Valentine's Day services, such as Xiehou Zhen'ai Marriage Agency. Xu Yali, a 31-year-old woman in Beijing, registered with the agency for an integrated matchmaking and dating service.

"I got a lot of pressure to get married from relatives and friends when I went back to my hometown in the Spring Festival. So I want to meet a suitable guy," said Xu.

"We will arrange for compatible girls and guys to meet on Valentine's Day or the weekend before. In general, girls hesitate to express their feelings but they still want romance," Ma Jia, a consultant for the agency, told the Global Times.

The service includes asking men to send gifts to girls before meeting, arranging the dating schedule and picking up opinions after the date, Ma said.

"We are all busy at work and the pressure of living in Beijing is not easy. We don't have so much time to find real love. We don't want to be lonely when couples are celebrating. So I think professionals can help," Ma said.

Rent-a-date

As well as companies, individuals are also getting in on the act, by "renting" themselves out as a Valentine's Day date.

"I have seen a lot of threads recently on major online communities and SNS (Social Networking Service) sites, either to hire a date or rent oneself out for Valentine's Day. I also posted a similar thread on SNS site renren.com. But I haven't got any responses yet," said Xiang Jun, a 29-year-old IT engineer.

Xiang is offering 1,500 yuan for a girl aged 20 to 29. She needs to be good looking, with long hair, slim and with big, round eyes.

"I will be very happy if I can rent a suitable girl to spend Valentine's Day with me. But I hope I can keep in touch with her after that day. It's not easy for me to meet beautiful girls in my daily work and life," said Xiang.

Zhuozhuo (not her real name), a netizen who offered herself as a Valentine's Day date, told the Global Times that she is hoping for a love adventure.

"I am single, and life is dull. I think this kind of meeting is exciting. I won't charge the guy if the date is good. If the guy is not what I expect, I can earn some money," she said.

Zhuozhuo will be going out with a financial analyst for 1,000 yuan. He will cover all the expenses of the activities.

"There are more guys looking to hire than girls offering themselves," said Zhuozhuo.

There is also a Valentine's Day charging list that has become popular online, suggesting a charge of 15 yuan per hour for shopping and 20 yuan per hug, etc.

Both Xiang and Zhuozhuo think the list is just a joke. "One would be too busy calculating during the date," said Zhuozhuo.

There are risks, however. "Many guys expect a relationship after the date," Xiang said. "But the chance is small, as the relationship is short and formed by payment. There is no 'after sales service' from girls."

"I am a little worried the guy may take me to some strange place or force me to do things I don't like. I have to be very careful," said Zhuozhuo.