TheSZWeb | Shenzhen News and Commentary

“So, are there prostitutes in Shenzhen?”
This newcomer’s question is bound to provoke laughter from long term residents. Sex is a major Shenzhen growth industry alongside building skyscrapers and making fake ipods.

You can learn a lot about the Shenzhen sex industry from reading between the lines of news reports.

For example, in the news organs, Futian District is the best at spewing out anti-vice statements of action:
- in November 2006 apparently over 3000 police were involved in anti- porno / brothel activities.
- 679 prostitutes were detained this year. (Most of them probably released with a slap on the arse.) Yes, that is pretty lame for 3000 police vs a city of hookers.
- in October the focus was to “crack down on prostitution in hair salons, foot massage parlors, and rented houses”. Tip if you are not sure whether the hair salon is real: look for scissors. If the only thing you can see are large moisuriser dispensers, you have been warned.
- the hundreds of “illegal entertainment places” reported as shut down probably means non-approved karaokes, if you needed another idea of where to get some SZxy action.

The details of the anti-prostitution raids confirm the following venues as top “evening action” hotspots:
- Shazui (of course)
- Shangsha
- Xiasha
- Shatou

Watch out for our next anti vice blog post, giving you the bus route numbers to the above locations, so you, er, know to avoid them.

2006 was the year the press in Shenzhen started covering the once-taboo topic of AIDS in China.

The statistics give an indication why this is now being taken seriously:

• Shenzhen AIDS cases rose over 41% in 2006
• In 2006, there were 457 reported HIV cases and 73 AIDS sufferers. Compare that to 47 / 27 five years ago, and 0 / 0 in 1993.
• The recorded cases in 2006 include a variety of age groups and profiles.
• 56% of new HIV cases are said to have been infected via drug syringes.

Reasons why the figures are probably hugely understated:
- Define “shenzhen” / “shenzhen citizen”… Although Baoan and Longgang are included in the figures, there are densely populated parts of greater Shenzhen which do not figure in the city official calculations yet.
- How many people have no idea they are HIV positive? In China… a lot, probably.
- Wider monitoring, better testing, and more openness in declared figures will lead to large increases in next year’s AIDS statistics for sure.