As online mockery mounts, Zhang Ziyi's boyfriend fails to propose to her

Beijing - At the end of his closely watched concert last Saturday and amid growing online ridicule, Chinese rocker Wang Feng did not propose to his girlfriend, actress Zhang Ziyi, after all, said NetEase website.

Before the show on Chinese Valentine's Day - the first by a mainland star at the Beijing National Stadium better known as the Bird's Nest - there had been rife speculation that Wang, 43, would ask Zhang, 35, to marry him.

Letv, the Chinese site that made a live webcast of the show that night, went as far as to send out a press release that afternoon, saying Wang would spring a sweet surprise on the most important woman in his life, reported Apple Daily.

Viewers had to pay 30 yuan (S$6) to watch the webcast and supposed surprise, said the report.

Also, in The Beijing News last Saturday, there was a full-page advertisement which seemed to be from Wang to Zhang. It said: "Little Zhang, sometimes silence is more important than a confession."

Wang's concert fuelled countless Internet conversations on Saturday, said NetEase. Some netizens bet that he would propose to Zhang at 9.09pm. "Help Wang Feng hit the headlines" appeared as an online banner. Other netizens wondered mockingly whether he could hit the top of the news on a night when actress Zhou Xun and Chinese-American actor Archie Kao were hosting a wedding banquet in her native Zhejiang.

Wang had confessed his love for Zhang on stage in November last year - months after they were first photographed together at an Eason Chan concert in Hong Kong - but the news was overshadowed by a major event in Chinese football.

Finally, he did go down at one knee at his concert on Saturday, as the crowd of about 60,000 chanted his girlfriend's name. He said: "Thanks for calling her name again and again. It makes me believe that my choice is right, that my love is right."

Apple Daily, citing unnamed sources, said Wang might have cancelled his proposal plans to avoid being accused of imitating Zhou, who held her wedding at the end of her charity concert.

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