SHANGHAI - For many people, particularly younger generations, the love letter is a tool of the past, an outdated form of communication that is read about only in Jane Austen novels.

Yet for Liu Xi, this old-fashioned way of expressing one's devotion has become, well, a real labor of love.

He has been collecting love letters lost in the system for almost a decade, and even quit his high-paying finance job to devote more time turning his hobby into art.

"It all started in 2001, when I found a bag of seven love letters hidden between items I bought from a secondhand market in Shanghai," says the 36-year-old, who hails from Northwest China's Shaanxi province.

According to the postal stamps, the letters were exchanged over several months in 1981 between a man in Shanghai and a Beijing woman. In the first letter, the man wrote how he wanted to kiss the woman, while the last talked of the woman having a miscarriage.

"I was really touched," Liu says. "I witnessed their love, from beginning to the end." From that moment, Liu says he was hooked. "I love to read different love stories between people."

He began searching for more old love letters and, in 2007, resigned from his position at Qilu Stock Exchange Co, going from a salary of hundreds of thousands of yuan a year to almost nothing.

Unlike antiques, unwanted or old letters usually end up at rubbish disposal centers or being sold on the black market along with stolen items. "Letters are made of paper, so they are worthless to thieves," he says. "I can buy several kilograms of letters at one time at a very low price."

Liu also travels far and wide to find love letters. He purchased a collection along with a diary from Taiwan. The documents detailed a woman's transition from heterosexual to lesbian following a doomed love affair with a man.

"I do worry sometimes that what I am doing is peeping into people's lives," Liu says. "But the words in these letters are real. You can feel the emotions and feelings of the writer by reading them."

Last year, the jobless hobbiest traveled to the United Kingdom for a month to work on a film he wants to make.

"Most Chinese believe Western people have a more open attitude to sex and love, but I discovered the essential parts of love between East and West are the same," he says.

Liu interviewed many elderly couples during his stay and is planning to edit them into a short movie by the end of this year. "I asked them what they think love is. I got various answers, but they always warmed my heart."

He has also approached many friends and relatives with the same question.

"I planned to put all those interviews in my film, and let people all over the place see the similarities and differences in the ideas on love between cultures."

Despite having a house full of love letters, Liu is still single. His last relationship ended before he started his collection, and he admits he was likely to blame for the break up.

"My parents like to have fights when they do not agree on things," he says. "I know it isn't right, but I unconsciously imitated them and did the same when I was in a relationship."

However, he explains that he has learned a lot about love from the letters he has collected over the years.

"I have confidence now that I will be able to handle a healthy relationship when I meet my Miss Right," he adds.

China Daily

(China Daily 10/06/2011 page5)