Zhu Qi (alias), a 34-year-old divorced woman, is not worried about finding a life-long mate for herself, but she is certainly anxious to find a father for her two-year-old son, Kaikai.

Zhu, a successful entrepreneur who owns three companies dealing in environmental protection in south China's Guangdong Province, registered her request with a marriage agency in Guangzhou to locate a proxy father for her son, the Guangzhou-based Nanfang City News reported Tuesday.

An employee with the marriage agency Zhu Qi is going through circulates a brochure designed to lookfor a proxy father for her two-year-old son on a street in Guangzhou, capital of south China'sGuangdong Province, Tuesday, September 12, 2006. [Nanfang City News]

"I hope Kaikai will grow up to be a real man, but I am short of the influence that a father might have on a son. I can wait for my Mr. Right, but Kaikai is growing every day. He needs father who can help him in nurturing a manly character through acing as a role model," Zhu was quoted as saying.

Zhu got divorced in 2004, soon after Kaikai was born. Since then, Zhu has employed two babysitters for Kaikai, one to play with him and the other to attend to his daily needs.

But as her son grows up, Zhu is becoming increasingly worried. She thinks Kaikai has become kind of wishy-washy, which Zhu attributes to being surrounded by women for such a long time.

"At his age, he should play some boy's games, but there is no way for him to do this, since his father rarely comes to see him," Zhu said.

The proxy father Zhu Qi is looking for should be well educated, gentle, optimistic, and most important of all, single - divorced or unmarried. He is expected to play with Kaikai full-time during the weekend in return for a daily payment of 200 to 800 yuan (US$25 to$100), according to the paper.

Zhu also hopes the father will stay until Kaikai turns 6, when he begins his school life.

"The proxy father is free during the four years, to find a girlfriend or get married, whatever. As long as he comes to work regularly," Zhu told the newspaper.

"If he turns out to be the Mr. Right for me, it would be God's best gift," she joked.

According to the marriage agency Zhu is going through, more than 150 people from various walks of life have responded to the brochure they circulated Tuesday, aged between 23 and 53, and over 80 percent of these respondents have a higher education..

The agency will conduct a primary selection among all the respondents for a face-to-face interview. Zhu will meet those who make the interview cut on September 27, and decide who will be the proxy father after the National Holiday.

"The complex procedure is solely for safety considerations. I prefer a a man with a western education. I have never stopped my son from doing anything he likes, unless it was for his own safety," she added, "I believe the proxy father will be fascinated with my lovely son."

Anyone interested in becoming Kaikai's proxy father should call (020)85260070, 31631015, 87542911, or (0755)21056655, 83605799.

Reports of Zhu's seeking a proxy father for her son triggered quiet a stir among netizens, the majority of whom showed support for Zhu in their comments.

One netizen wrote at sina.com, "It requires enormous courage to make such as decision against social conventions. This mother is laudable." His comment was backed by many.

However, there are also some negative voices, mainly questioning the feasibility of employing a proxy father.

"For one thing, paternal love that costs 200 to 800 yuan is utterly worthless, and those respondents are by no means good fathers. Another thing is, a father should not be an employee. Money cannot buy paternal love,"commented another netizen at sina.com.