China's 'sex capital' Dongguan

Dongguan, an industrial city located in the Pearl River Delta in south China, became a national sensation after a news program on China Central Television (CCTV) earlier this month disclosed the allegedly rampant sex trade taking place there.

Donggguan is reputed to be the world's cheap labor and cheap products factory, but is also dubbed China's "sex capital," with swarms of men from all over China gathering there every day to indulge in the pleasures of the flesh.

As early as 2001, Zheng Xiaoqiong, a migrant worker from southwest China's Sichuan Province, was greatly impressed by the special ambiance in Dongguan, where she found hundreds of dazzling clubs and a shower of sauna and nightclub advertisements every day.

In 2013, 30-year-old Song Fei subscribed to a public social media account, entitled "Dongguan Madam," which sent him photos of hundreds of hot girls posing in lingerie every afternoon. This made him yearn for life in the "sex capital."

For many people, Dongguan became notorious as the "sex capital" mainly because of the economic downturn in the Pearl River Delta, when many factories closed down and their employees were forced to find other ways to survive.

In its heyday, Dongguan attracted millions of immigrants. The small city, with a local population of 1.7 million, had a total population of at least 12 million. The immigrant influx increased the consumption of many things, including the sex trade.

Covering only 2,645 square kilometers, the city has more than 90 star hotels, more than 20 of which are five-star hotels, providing facilities for sex trade and leading to many auxiliary businesses such as the trading of jewelry, clothes and sex toys. According to industry insiders, the sex trade in Dongguan could produce an annual GDP of more than 5 billion yuan (US$824 million).

The robust development of Dongguan has been closely intertwined with the sex trade and gained it the national reputation of "sex capital." However, not everyone agreed to label the city as such.

Tian Gensheng, dean of the College of Liberal Arts of Dongguan University of Technology, thought the city should not think about what other people say because the rampant sex trade is just an inevitable result of a booming commodity economy.

Wu Zuolai, a scholar on Chinese culture, suggested that Dongguan should learn from the infamous Moulin Rouge establishment in Paris and turn itself into a city with a unique sex culture.

For Dongguan officials, the city's bad reputation is unacceptable. They have denounced the label of "sex capital" on more than one occasion and have taken numerous measures to crack down on prostitution.

"Prostitution, gambling and drugging did exist in Dongguan, but they could also be found in other cities," said Dongguan Mayor Yuan Baocheng in March 2013. "The city government has never considered resorting to these to develop the local economy. Therefore, I can't bear to hear those bad names. There is no need to label Dongguan. This is who we are -- a virtue-valued, down-to-earth, tolerant and open city."