Laid In China

It's no big secret to anyone in Beijing that the sex trade is very much alive and openly available to anyone minus the naming and shaming that one might receive back home in Blighty. My rationale being that foreign men feel that because they are away from their own country they think they can get away with behaving a bit more boyish, and ever so badly. One might be fooled into believing that the redly-lit massage parlours with the pretty-faced young Chinese girls are there for no more than one looking for a quick shoulder rub, but as any guy will tell you, "you may get more than you bargained for".

Expatriate male friends of mine have excitedly engaged us with the unnecessary details of the kinds of mischief they have gotten into at the elusive karaoke houses in Beijing, in which men are presented with their choice of naked Chinese girls to fulfill their every whim. All comes at a price, of course, and if you're not happy with the price, you negotiate. How comforting to know that you can not only haggle over the price of your new shoes, but also your next lay.

Expat men can indulge themselves until they are so exhausted that they have to go home and back to 'reality'. As you can imagine, the lives of the expat women is not nearly as much 'fun'. Expat women marginally sit back, sip their vodka and tonics, and shake their heads as they watch another expat man's ego rocket through the roof when a beautiful Chinese girl gives him a second glance in a nightclub. But what does he care what the expat women think? This isn't the real world; this may as well be Never-never land. Well, guys, Captain Hook lived in Never-never land too and look what kind of reputation he got for himself!