Next to London, Shanghai short on cute commuters

Snapshots of attractive men taken on London's subway have gone viral on Chinese social media recently. The photos are from TubeCrush.net, a website that posts photos of handsome men riding on London's underground transportation system, known colloquially as the Tube.

The website was set up four years ago by a group of friends living in London to pay "Homage to the Hommes." The site's co-founder, Stephen Motion, said that the website is very popular in China. "The third biggest source of traffic to our website is actually from China," he said.

According to Motion, the most traffic comes from Guangzhou and Shanghai, two cosmopolitan cities with busy subway systems.

Photos from the website are being shared hundreds of thousands of times on Sina Weibo. An image of a male passenger can generate up to 100,000 likes and shares.

Some people pointed out that instances of pickpocketing and sexual harassment - rather than hot guys - are caught on camera far more frequently on the subway in China.

It is not difficult to understand why microbloggers have been obsessing over the photos. On a cultural level, many Chinese people's conception of British men remains influenced by the image of the British gentleman - a well-educated, well-mannered and well-groomed man. The popularity of the British period drama Downton Abbey in China may have played a part in enhancing this image.

The popular photos of these good-looking commuters are a proof that attractive British men exist, though one is more likely to encounter a balding, middle-aged British man with a bulging belly on the streets of the UK.

Looking back to their own country, Chinese people might be disappointed with the lack of eye candy on the public transport system. In comparison to Western men, Chinese men don't care that much about their image.

The unattractiveness of Chinese men comes in different dimensions. The first is appearance. Chinese men can't compare in physique to that of Western men. While Japanese men overcome their physical shortcomings with good taste in clothing, Chinese men unfortunately don't have the same taste. Some Chinese men will wear the same sweater during the entire winter, and mixing and matching is out of the question.

To be fair, we have to recognize that many men on the subway in China are migrant workers who can barely make ends meet. Dressing nicely, therefore, is a rather low priority.

But looks are not everything. The lack of manners in Chinese men may be more important and less forgivable. While holding a door or an elevator for women is common courtesy for Western men, many Chinese men shun the practice. Typically, Chinese men will just rush to get inside the elevator first and never bother to hold the door.

On the other hand, Chinese women are much more attractive. When you take the subway in Shanghai, chances are that you will find far more pretty and well-dressed Chinese women than men. It is no wonder that many outstanding Chinese women at the right age to get married are still single because all of the quality Chinese men are either married or gay. If somebody were to start a version of tubecrush in China, I suggest they focus on Chinese women.

British media like The Times see Chinese people's interest in the photos as a reflection of the lack of space on the subway in China. Shanghai and Guangzhou are home to the fourth and the sixth busiest subway systerms in the world, according to RailwayTechnology.com. I'm not sure if this explanation is true, but Shanghai's subway is so crowded that one can hardly move on the train, let alone snap a photo with a cellphone.