What happened in Vietnam was crazy, and I thought I will never again be approached on so many occasions to have paid sex.
But then I went to Shanghaiβ¦. My friend and I were planning for a long time to visit Shanghai and, when we finally did it, we booked a room near the famous Bund area. We checked the Bund during daytime, but we planned to go back in the evening, to stroll on Nanjing Road and take pictures with the glamorous Oriental Pearl in the background.
It was in that evening when the craziness happened again. In a few hours time, more than 20 pimps and prostitutes stopped us and presented their offers to us. It came as a shock to me to get stopped for so many times, but imagine my friend H. He just stopped, called his friend on the phone and started to freak out about the weird things he was witnessing. A bit later, after getting used with the situation, we would tell them we cannot take such services, as our wives would not agree.
Nevertheless, they would continue to persuade us. However, as I was told by others, once you take the bite and go inside, you will actually end up paying much more, around RMB. Now, every time I walk on Nanjing Road I experience the same thing over and over again.
Another guy, a foreigner this time, told me that living for a longer period of time in the same district of Shanghai can bring unexpected benefits. He is now charged a locals price β RMB β for a full-option service offered by the massage parlor located nearby his place. Usually foreigners are charged more for this kind of services. Not too long ago I was visiting the Zhangjiajie National Park, the scenic place where the movie Avatar was shot.
