A lovesick Dutch man waited for ten days in a Chinese airport for a date to arrive, a luckless ordeal which left him requiring hospital treatment after developing severe health problems.

Alexander Pieter Cirk, 41, flew from Holland to Huanghua International Airport in Changsha, Hunan province, south China on July 22 in the hope of meeting a 26-year-old woman he met online two months ago, known only by the surname Zhang.

When he found no one waiting for him at the airport, Mr Cirk refused to leave the building and ended up sleeping there for ten nights, according to People's Daily Online.

Pity: Alexander Pieter Cirk, 41, flew from Holland to Huanghua Airport in Changsha, Hunan

Sorry: He waited for ten days for the woman he had met online, Zhang, to arrive and meet him

True love? Mr Cirk was found with glamorous pictures of Ms Zhang on his mobile phone

The prolonged wait - coupled with lack of sleep and adequate nutrition - had a bad effect on the Dutchman, causing him to pass out as an effect of his severe diabetes.

With his condition worsening, emergency services were summoned to airport, where they quickly took Mr Cirk away for treatment.

He was later pictured with a drip attached, being pushed around in a wheelchair.

Ms Zhang told news reporters she had been having plastic surgery treatment in Zhengzhou while Mr Cirk waited, and had turned her phone off while her face was wrapped in gauze.

The 26-year-old confirmed she did not expect Mr Cirk to make the 5,400 mile one-way trip from his home city Amsterdam to Changsha.

She told a local news channel: 'We had advanced our romantic relationship but later he seemed a little callous towards me.

'One day he sent me a photo of air tickets abruptly and I thought it was a joke. He didn't contact me later.'

Ms Zhang says she called Mr Cirk in hospital, after which they had a two hour conversation and discussed the Dutch man's ordeal.

Dangerous: The wait left the diabetes-sufferer with health issues and he had to be hospitalised

Tragic tale: The Chinese woman said it was 'inconvenient' for her to return to see Mr Cirk

The Chinese woman said it was 'inconvenient' for her to return to Changsha to see Mr Cirk, but asked that medical staff look after him well.

Commenters on the social media platform Weibo were unimpressed by Mr Cirk's antics and few of them had sympathy for his plight.

Referring to the stylized photos Mr Cirk were showing off on his phone of Ms Zhang , one user said: 'Doesn't he know that everything in China is fake?'

In a cruel twist on events, another user added: 'Perhaps she did go to the airport, saw what he looked like, and promptly turned back around.'