Whore Cards

I'm neither naïve nor a prude. I'm well aware that the sex trade is a booming business, even though it is illegal most everywhere, including China. So why do I keep getting business cards depicting lovely young ladies shoved under my door at every hotel I stay at, even nice ones?

When I first started traveling around China this phenomenon was unknown to me. It was only when I traveled with Gary to Wenzhou (see Wen Zhou entry, posted August 2012) that I/we received our first whore cards. We had done a bit of traveling together before and had never gotten any, but Wenzhou was a different kettle of fish – if you'll remember, I said it was a brutal sort of town. I figured Gary was the intended recipient of those cards just because he is a handsome, refined guy and somebody made note of him at check in, even though I don't remember anyone else being in the lobby at that time.

I teased him about it. He got embarrassed. I apologized. Balance was restored. 

Since then I've been traveling mostly on my own and have had whore cards intended solely for me pushed under the door. I have to assume they are for me because I am the only person in the room. I started questioning whore sensibility, considering they would offer up their services to males and females indiscriminately. Idly, I wondered what would happen should I call one of those numbers.

It was on one of my jaunts – can't remember where I was, that I had a chance to find out, without my having to call any numbers. As I'm getting settled in (and hear the shoosh of cards being slid under the door), someone knocks. I thought it might be a desk clerk. Perhaps I had neglected to sign something, or left something downstairs? Before opening the door I asked: “Who is it?” A seductive voice replied: “Open the door to see.” I said I wasn't interested and she asked me how I knew, being as I hadn't laid eyes on her. I told her I was female. She apologized and I heard a knock on a door down the hall, indicating she had moved on.

If I had been such a person who would accept such an offer, I would have selected her simply for her industriousness. Personal effort beats a business card any day!

As much as the Chinese government prefers her citizens to be moral, and as hard as they try to deter prostitution, the fact is that it is rampant in China. While not exactly espousing an 'if you can't beat them, join them' mentality, the powers that be have opted for education before prosecution. Sex education is all over the news: getting over the embarrassment of talking about sex – heretofore a taboo subject, which direction it should take, how young children should be when starting their education in this matter. Even migrant workers are being educated.

Condoms are widely available these days, whereas when I first came to China I didn't notice them being so prevalent. Most hotel rooms now offer them as a concession, right along with colas, teas, snacks and playing cards.

I only have limited acquaintance with the female side of the sex industry, from one of my students who, sadly, became a part of it. About a year after her fall from grace she asked me to help her purchase 500 FC2 female condoms from an American website. I am morally opposed to contributing to the delinquency of anyone and thus had no desire to help her. However, realizing she and 'her girls' – she was the team manager, would continue with or without protection I reasoned I should help protect their health, but have a sound discussion with her. Fortunately I was absolved from abetting because the website she gave me was inaccessible. I still gave her a stern talking to. She didn't heed then,  but she is ruing it now. Poor kid. I'd like to know if it is her job to distribute those cards? I'm not going to ask.     

I have to wonder: how does the whore card thing work? At every instance, within 30 minutes of check-in, I get cards. I'm fairly certain nobody is lurking in the lobby when I check in making note of which room I'm in in order to entice me later. If, in fact there were such a person they probably wouldn't want to entice me, seeing as I'm female. Without fail, all of the cards depict women for hire. I've yet to see a man offering himself for a fee.

Do these cards get pushed under doors indiscriminately? Is there a certain time of day when someone makes the rounds, promoting his/her stable of lovelies by peppering every room with cards? Not likely. I've yet to check into a room  already carded. And, considering I check in at random times in various cities, the odds of my consistently checking roughly 30 minutes prior to scheduled card delivery – in any town, in any hotel would be staggering.   

Is hotel management in on it? It could be a symbiotic relationship: the house would allow a certain stable of girls in return for a cut of the take. That would involve the desk clerk providing the card pass-out person a list of occupied rooms. That seems the most likely scenario but: if s/he is in on it, why wouldn't s/he not indicate which rooms would not summon a girl? Say... a room occupied by a female? Or a room with a family? And, if hotel management is in on it, why not just place a stack of cards in the room, by the condom display?

Whore cards became a running joke between Gary and I. Now that he is a drudge grunt – working full time, he does not have the opportunity to travel with me as much. Sometimes he asks, but I never fail to report to him how many whore cards I receive in my travels. Till now, I only ever got 1 or 2 – as opposed to his 5, that time in Wenzhou. In Hefei I got no fewer than 11 cards!

What to do about this constant barrage of cards?

I used to just leave the cards on the floor, by the door. And then, I had the bright idea to kick them back into the hall for all to see. In Wuhu they got snatched up fairly quickly: by the time I opened my door about an hour later, they were gone. This latest group: I had to pick them up and arrange them for the picture. And then, I stacked them neatly by the condom display. The next morning I noted the people in the room next to mine had kicked them into the hall. I guess I'm not the only one who is sick of those cards. Or, maybe sick of what they imply.     

I certainly don't wish to degrade these ladies by calling them whores. I'm  sure they are all pure young women who seek only to pat my brow and serve me tea... while wearing provocative garments and projecting wide-eyed innocence.

While I deplore these attractive women earning their living by selling themselves, there is not much I can do. I failed to redirect my student. I suspect a talk of dignity and morality would fall on these strangers' deaf ears. I wonder if, years from now, should one of them have a daughter... what would  she think of her daughter earning her living in such a way?