Lonely for the Holidays? Rent a Boyfriend on Taobao!
Spring Festival is fast approaching, and for China’s younger generation, that often means returning home to an extended family that’s ready to spend a full two weeks badgering you about when you’re going to get married and, if you’re not already seeing someone, trying to set you up on blind dates. It’s such a drag, in fact, that some people have turned to renting fake significant others to keep their families off their back for the holidays. And where do you go to rent a fake boyfriend or girlfriend? Taobao, of course! It just goes to show, you really can find anything on Taobao.
もうすぐ春節。中国の若い世代にとって春節とは、大抵の場合、生まれ故郷に帰って家族・親戚に会い、まるまる2週間をそこで過ごすということだ。家族や親戚は、いつ結婚するのかとか、恋人がいないならお見合いをさせようとして、しつこく干渉してくる。こんなことにうんざりしている人のなかには、家族のそんな干渉から逃れるために、偽の恋人を実際にレンタルする人もいる。偽の彼氏や彼女をレンタルするのに訪れるのは？もちろん、Taobaoだ！本当に、何でもTaobaoで見つけられるようだ。
Pricing can vary widely depending on who you’re buying and what you want them to do. If you’d like this guy to come home with you for the holidays, for example, it’s going to cost you 800 RMB ($126) per day, although you can get 10% off if your hometown is in the southern part of the country. During that time, he writes, he’s willing to do all kinds of things, like helping you carry stuff, chatting with your parents, and even (depending on the circumstances) washing your parents’ feet. Drinking with the family costs extra, and don’t expect any hanky-panky beyond handholding, because it’s strictly off limits.
We contacted Taobao parent company Alibaba, but the company declined to comment publicly about whether or not this practice is permitted under Taobao policy.
In practice, it certainly seems as though it’s permitted, because finding rental boyfriends to take home on the site is quite easy. Rental girlfriends seem to be a bit more scarce (though there are still some available), and searches for “rent girlfriend” result in a “in accordance with the relevant laws, search results cannot be shown” error message, although many other similar searches still work.
実際のところ、こういう行為は確実に容認されているように見える。というのも、同サイトでは、故郷に連れて帰るレンタルの彼氏を簡単に見つけることができるからだ。彼女のレンタルは彼氏のレンタルよりもかなり少なく ——それでも、見つけることは可能——、また「彼女のレンタル」で検索すれば、「関連法に従い、検索結果を表示できません」というエラーメッセージが表示されるが、その他多くの類似検索を行えば検索結果を得ることができる。
実家に連れて行くボーイフレンドをサイト上で見つけることはかなり容易なため、事実上は、許可されているようにみえる。ガールフレンドのレンタルはもう少し希少なようだ（それでも、いるにはいるが）。また、「借りる ガールフレンド」で検索すると「関連する法律のため、検索結果は表示できません」というエラーメッセージが出てくる。他の似たような検索はまだ問題なく表示される。
With the Spring Festival holiday fast approaching, most people inclined to take advantage of this sort of service have likely already booked a significant other. But those of you interested in renting yourselves out now have a full year to prepare your Taobao page for next year. And how long can it be before a Chinese startup comes along to offer a dedicated platform for renting boyfriends and girlfriends? (Of course, there are plenty of traditional dating options like Jiayuan and Momo in China, too).
