An online event intended to let China's mistresses celebrate their status and air grievances quickly descended into a slanging match yesterday.

Mistresses were joined by cheating husbands and wronged wives in an online chatroom for the inaugural "Festival for Mistresses."

The time and date chosen - 3:30pm on March 3 - was significant, as in Chinese mistresses are nicknamed "Little Three," as they are the third person in a married man's relationship.

However, despite being dubbed a festival, good cheer was in short supply.

Things got off to a bad start when, in her introduction, an invited wife proclaimed her loyalty to her husband.

She was assailed by mistresses mocking her "loyalty" and teasing her by saying they would seduce her husband.

Other participants came to the defense of the beleaguered wife, criticizing the aggressive behavior of the mistresses.

As levels of abuse escalated and chaos reigned, the moderator was forced to warn participants to behave.

How different this was to the bold plan announced by "Sister Three," who set up mistresses' forum xeixe.com. She decided to hold China's first festival for mistresses with an online debate featuring 40 mistresses, husbands and wives.

Sister Three hoped the event would let people know more about mistresses, help them shed their scandalous image and gain social and legal status. Some mistresses complain China's marriage law discriminates against them, giving all advantages to wives.

But following the discussion, the only thing mistresses, husbands and wives agreed on was that if mistresses are accused of challenging social morals, men should also take responsibility.

Some of the mistresses started private chats with a Shanghai Daily reporter posing as a male guest. One local 24-year-old mistress, nicknamed "princess," told the reporter that she would do everything she could to make her lover divorce his wife, even getting pregnant.

"They are shameless," said Bai Wanqing, a grassroots lawmaker and TV show mediator, who said she had reported the website to the police.