Gen-Zers are digital natives, embracing virtual life and deciding on new trends. Unlike the rest of the world though, Chinese Gen-Z is the only child at home, they are the generation of the one-child policy.
The isolation created by this makes many Chinese Gen-Z desire physical connections, but with no experience or understanding of intimate relationships. Sexuality is not normalised in China, they have no siblings to discuss the girls or boys they have a crush on, and they receive little to no sexual education which only seeks to cement issues with intimacy.
From the backdrop of this overwhelming void of loneliness comes a new business, renting a boyfriend for a day, a way to commercialise the intimacy many crave.
Rent a boyfriend, with kisses and hugs excluded
Would you spend 600 RMB ($66.7) to rent a boyfriend for 2 hours? He can go shopping with you, enjoy bubble tea, you can take selfies together. Would you buy that? A Chinese girl would.
From the backdrop of this overwhelming void of loneliness comes a new business, renting a boyfriend for a day.
Recently, a Chinese influencer (Zhou Fugui/周富贵) posted about her experience of renting a boyfriend for that exact price in Shanghai. It was in a board game café where she was offered some blind boxes with the rental boys’ names inside.
The boy she picked was half Chinese and half Thai, and it was noted that during the two hours, no holding hands, kissing, or other intimate interaction would be offered – unless you pay some extra cash under the table.
Read More at https://daoinsights.com/opinions/can-i-pay-you-to-be-my-boyfriend-chinese-gen-z-craves-intimacy/