As the number of "leftover women" in China increases, so does the price of renting a boyfriend to take home during the Spring Festival. Rent-a-boyfriend now costs $219 a day as the Lunar New Year draws closer.
Renting a boyfriend is now a trend among women. Many of them resort to this scheme to appease their parents at home.
Many single men are now posting their profiles online through a group chat on Tencent's QQ. Details like weight, height, and educational background are included.
Some men even post qualities like "coping with questions concerning marriage from parents and relatives."
To rent a boyfriend, women can choose among men with a beginning price range of 1,000 yuan per day. Some profiles advertise rates of 1,500 yuan per day. The rented boyfriends do not pay for travel costs, accommodation or food.
Guo Yi, a rented boyfriend, said that once he agrees to be rented, he and the client sign a contract and a down payment is given to him.
"I played the role very well and has never been caught," Guo said. He encountered many prying questions from his clients' parents.
Sean Lee Barker, another rented boyfriend, wrote an article about his experience online.
He stated he had been starting to regret coming to the city of Harbin, in northeastern China. "Fooling Celia's parents into thinking I was her boyfriend suddenly didn't seem like such a good idea."
Barker added that the whole plan failed since the parents disapproved of him.
The woman's mother commented, "He is too tall and too handsome for you. You need a shorter and plainer man."
In conclusion, Barker wrote that women in China want "freedom from the expectations imposed on her by society, freedom from family pressure to marry and freedom to follow whichever path she chooses."