Need to get that nagging family off your back about not being in a relationship? In China, you can rent a boyfriend.
With the Lunar New Year coming up, millions of Chinese women will be returning home to be with their family for the holidays and family can be difficult to deal with sometimes, especially if you're single. Someone is bound to ask, "so why don't you have a boyfriend?"
Many young women in Chinese culture feel the pressure to find a husband before they turn 30. Ding Na knows this all too well.
"I'm pretty old - I'm almost 30 - but I'm still single," she told BBc. "I'm under lots of pressure. My sisters and my relatives all ask me why I'm not married. When they call me, I'm scared to pick up the phone."
China's most popular online marketplace, Taobao, has become a source for women to find a way to keep nagging family members off their back. The site offers boyfriends for rent.
According to the BBC, a boyfriend can be rented for a day through the site for as low as $50. There are several classifieds from men who are looking to be a companion to women over the holidays.
The rentable boyfriends have different rates for different actions. They may start at $5 an hour to accompany a girl to dinner. A kiss on the cheek will cost $8. The the girl needs the fake boyfriend to stay overnight, it'll cost $80 for him to sleep in his own bed or $95 if he's stuck on the couch.
Sharing a bed is not an option because sex is out of the question on the fake boyfriend menu, unless it's mutual of course.
Li Le, an agricultural products salesman from Tianjin, has listed himself as a boyfriend for rent on the site. He's giving up heading home to his own family in exchange for working as an escort, but he's not in it for the money. He hopes something real comes out of it.
"It's an exciting thing to do," he told BBC "I might find someone who shares my interests and it would make both of us happy."
Li has had a lot of response so far. Thirty women want to take him home. He's just looking for one he can trust and sees potential in marrying.
This idea may have come from pop culture. A popular Chinese TV show, "Renting a Girlfriend for Home Reunion" exemplifies this exact idea. On the show, a connection is set up between a Chinese man and a fake girlfriend.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
