Vice in Shenzhen
“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.