Young Chinese who desperately need to confide in someone their deepest secrets no longer need to dig a hole on the ground. Relief is just a few clicks away with a new website.

"www.secret.moumentei.com" is leading a hip new fashion online. Logging on to its dark home page, the huge Chinese and English characters of the word "Secret" lead users in to a private, intimate atmosphere.

Users leave messages, short or long, casual or serious, from the password of bank accounts to tales of an affair between a young boy and a middle-aged man.

Some "secrets" might not be true but few seem to care and in fact nobody knows except the user himself.

People not only post their secrets but also read others' secrets and comment on them. The website ranks the hottest secrets according to the number of comments they receive.

According to the website, it has attracted thousands of users and about 12,000 secrets have been posted so far.

"This is the place I had been searching for. So many things were piling up inside me that without this channel I would have had to turn to psychologists," a message said.

Many consider it a helpful way to reduce stress but some say it plays to an unhealthy desire to peek into other people's lives.

The website has a set of rules to protect privacy. Users are asked not to provide real names and contact details including website, email address, telephone number and address.

Political and erotic topics are banned as well.

The website operator says they check every message to decide whether it is proper for posting and promise not to publicize any user's IP address.

"It is safe to share," the website proclaims on its homepage.

(Xinhua News Agency July 7, 2007)