中国

On January 20, 2012, United Arab Emirates’ English newspaper National (Electronic version), published an article that featured an affluent Chinese man named Hoan. It revealed that what some of China’s wealthiest men are looking for is not an increase in material fortune but rather a mistress to perfect their social status. According to the report, if you’re wealthy and happen to be living in China, the presence of a mistress is a symbol of one’s success in society in some circles.

Nevertheless, like many a member of the single male demographic, these affluent Chinese men are sometimes confronted with the problem of just how to go about meeting available members of the opposite sex. Here, what many man with bucket-loads of cash are increasingly turning to is online dating.

Let’s take a quick look at the process for a man like Hoan.

Everything starts off fairly normally with Hoan suggesting the type of woman he’d like to meet:

“Height 160-170 cm, beautiful and smart with an air of sexiness”.

However, the next stage differs to your average site in that the recruiter specifies the details of remuneration that the woman will receive for being selected as Hoan’s mistress:

“Renumeration: 10,000 CNY (US$1,600) per month + car.”

According to January 21 online edition of Chinese newspaper Global Times, in just one day, this type of site sees several hundreds of  applications from women seeking to be chosen as a wealthy man’s partner.

Within the past 30 years, China has seen a relaxation on its social and economical policies which has subsequently seen a revival of affluent or politically influential Chinese men. The majority of these men can be seen to be repeating the bad habits of past by using attractive members of the opposite sex as a tool to boast one’s political power and fortune. A specialist from the Chinese Social Studies Institute comments: “To some degree, men with status are already surrounding themselves in women. This has all become quite an everyday occurrence and no longer carries the sense of being unusual. Just like the Emperor kept a concubine as a symbol of status, there is the argument that these men are behaving in a way that boasts their societal status.”

A specialist in Sociology gives the following comment:

“China’s rapid increase in abundant living is a considerable factor in bringing about the ‘surrounding one’s self with women’ phenomenon. Old China’s Qing Dynasty’s most prosperous era also saw a similar occurrence amongst a section of  influential men. However, this only served to promote male chauvinism and worsened the political imbalance between men and women. In such a society, it was only the man that rose to a high social position.”

Returning to the thoughts of the above social science specialist:

“China’s society still remains very much one of male domination. Many women therefore believe that the only way to rise to the top in society is by finding a partner with political and financial power.”

Moreover, by going down this road, many a Chinese woman can be seen to be achieving social elevation. To give you a clear example of this, just take a look at the famous refugee Li Wei who fled to China from Vietnam. Among high Chinese officials, she has created quite a reputation as “everyone’s mistress” and has secured quite a high status in society. Woman who pursue a relationship with high officials often find the men they’re seeing involved in some form of political corruption or another; looking at past outcomes, from the woman’s point of view, what’s attractive about this is that even if these men get arrested, the women often escape without even a graze.

According to the same Chinese Global Times newspaper, Li Wei currently carries a heroine-like status and is the focus of much admiration among many Chinese.

On a closing note, there’s a famous piece of Chinese satire that perhaps which, while not overly pleasant, will perhaps put the situation into perspective: “One laughs at the poor man but not at the prostitute.”

Source: Livedoor News

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