AUTHORITIES in Hongkou District are creating a designated "graffiti wall" to stymie scribbled declarations of love that have plagued its Tian'ai road.

Tian'ai road, which translates as "Sweet Love," has long attracted couples thanks to its name, but also led many to draw their loved one's initials, hearts, arrows, and general declarations of eternal love.

The scribbling has drawn the ire of Hongkou District government, which is now dedicating a 105-meter long stretch on the west side of the road for graffiti.

Du Honglian, an official with the district's culture bureau, told Shanghai Daily that artists would be invited to create paintings on the wall, and said he hopes that this would also encourage citizens to scribble on the designated wall.

"First of all we want to guide the scribblers to paint on the designated place, and then, gradually, we also want them to stop this bad behavior," Du said.

Once the wall is covered in love-themed paintings by real artists, scribblers would be ashamed to spoil it, Du said, adding that one painting will show a young woman holding balloons as her partner is riding her around on a bicycle.

The new policy of approving "graffiti" on part of the wall is the latest of many efforts to get the city's creative lovebirds under control.

In the past, the district government has stationed security guards as well as volunteers along the 500-meter road, hoping that patrols would bring the drawings to an end — but to no avail, Du said.

"Even some historic buildings have been scribbled on and the government had to paint them repeatedly," he said.

"I think Wang is the world's most handsome man," is just one of thousands of love messages, which even adore the street's mailbox, popular as letters and postcards dropped off there get a heart-shaped postage stamp.