For the 2014 Chinese New Year, women can welcome the Year of the Horse with festivals, fireworks and if they can afford it, a new boyfriend.
The Chinese New Year, beginning on Friday, the first day of the lunar month, is the most important holiday in Chinese culture. The two-week long festival celebrates themes like good fortune and luck for the next year. It is also a time when single women face an increase in pressure from their families to find a mate.
Men in China tend to marry below their status, but more single women in China are achieving higher education, the Financial Times reported. This leaves an excess of wealthy "shengnv," or leftover women, plagued with the trouble of finding a husband and start a family.
This is where 29-year-old Sui Wei comes in. Wei makes a living as a boyfriend for hire.
"I charge between Rmb1,000 ($160) and Rmb10,000 ($1,640) a day, to girls who are under pressure from their parents to bring a boyfriend home for family gatherings," Wei told the Financial Times.
Wei once made $6,000 for pretending to be the groom at a fake wedding. At another fake wedding the bride's mother gave him a red envelope, a Chinese tradition, filled with cash.
"I knew she and the father were expecting us to live happily ever after, but I knew we would be together for only one day," Wei told the Financial Times.
He advertises his services on Taobao, the equivalent of a Chinese eBay, and online dating sites, the Financial Times reported. Wei, who is also a professional actor, charges women depending on how much they make.
"I charge a modest fee for ordinary office workers, and more for really rich women," Wei told the Financial Times.
And if a client wants a little something extra, Wei charges for that too- an additional $490 to $3,280 for sex.
