Chinese Class - Rent a lover

CITYLIFE / Hip & New






Rent a lover

By Liu Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-02-16 11:02


"Wanted: A girlfriend during Spring Festival 1,000 yuan ($128) for 10
days."

Xiao Zhu, a physics student at Peking University, posted this
advertisement on campus last month. About 20 girls responded within two
days.

The reason for the advertisement, according to Zhu, is quite simple.

"My aged parents sent me an 'ultimatum' last Spring Festival find a
girlfriend this year," he said.

Zhu said he spends much of his time studying and is therefore too busy to
find a girlfriend. However, as he did not wish to disappoint his parents,
he decided to get himself a temporary girlfriend.

Zhu is not the only one caught in this dilemma.

In January last year, a teacher at the Shanghai-based East China Normal
University posted a notice on another university's BBS, looking for a man
who would pretend to be her boyfriend during her Spring Festival holiday
at home.

Most people who want to rent a partner are university students and young
white-collar workers.

According to Chinese tradition, no matter where you are or how busy,
Spring Festival is a time to return home for family reunions. For many
young people working or studying away from home, the festival affords a
chance of getting together with their families.

It is also an opportunity for them to show their families they have been
cultivating close friendship with the opposite sex.

Those who advertise for partners make it clear they do not have to live
together or be intimate.

According to media reports, those who respond to such advertisements are
normally looking for fun, money, or just a free trip.

Wang Zhenyu, a marriage expert with the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences, said young people should be more honest with their parents,
instead of deceiving them with rented partners.

And trusting a person solely on the basis of an advertisement could also
be dangerous.










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