Many are familiar with the "calling cards" that get slipped under the doors of hotels. They are a sign that sex is just a phone call and a fistful of bank notes away. Due to the poor management of these hotels, little has been done to effectively prevent this sleazy business from thriving.
An April 13 assault in a Beijing hotel in which a pimp attacked a female guest who he mistook for a member of a rival prostitution ring has made headlines, and has also focused public attention on the rampant prostitution in China's budget hotels.
After security camera footage of the attack was released online, it had a huge impact and was watched hundreds of millions of times. Many women have begun to fear for their safety if they stay in these cheap hotels.
Last Friday, the Beijing police closed their investigation and detained five suspects. The police sent out a notice online, saying the attacker worked for a prostitution ring and thought the woman was working with a competitor.
The fact that ads for sex workers are slipped under the doors of hotel rooms is no news to anyone that has ever stayed in a budget hotel. While many hotels and local law enforcement bodies have tried to stop this from going on, the poor security of many hotels means that the practice is as common as ever.
A reporter from The Beijing News went undercover to a few hotels in the capital and called the numbers on a few cards to see the reality of this kind of prostitution.
Pornography chain
Last Wednesday, the Beijing News reporter checked in at a Seven Day hotel in the city's Jingtaiqiao area. He called a number on a card and a man picked up the phone to introduce the "business."
The man said a "regular service" would cost 600 yuan ($93), "white collar woman service" costs 800, and "model service" costs 1,000. The package includes two hours of "bath and massage."
After 30 minutes, a woman called the reporter to tell him that she was in the hotel building. When they met and the reporter told her he just wanted to chat, the woman immediately called a man on the phone who reprimanded the reporter and said "It doesn't matter whether you go through with it or not, you have to pay up front!"
After she left the reporter called another number on a different card, and 20 minutes later, a woman who calls herself "Queen Fan" met with the reporter in the hotel.
She told the reporter she and a couple of other girls are managed by a so-called "chicken head," who introduces customers to women in different districts. She usually serves people in the southern parts of the city and about 40 percent of her business is in budget hotels. But she confessed these hotels aren't "safe" for their business, because there is sometimes a police presence.
"Our boss repeatedly warned us not to go to Haidian district, because there are many undercover police," she told The Beijing News.
Her boss has eight cell phones and receives calls about the "business" every day. The prostitutes are monitored by drivers who transport them to hotels and ensure their safety, and overseeing these drivers there are "chicken heads," who also organize the meetings and take part of their profit. Some prostitutes have never even met their boss.
She said the cards are distributed in many places besides budget hotels, they target sidewalks and cars' windshields. After a customer calls the card, they reach a "chicken head," who deals with them directly or through a mediator.
There are two ways a "chicken head" finds staff, "Queen Fan" said. They reach out to acquaintances or use WeChat to find people nearby, add them and ask whether they want a "part-time job."
"Queen Fan" once took a cosmetics training course. But after she paid thousands of yuan she realized she had been cheated. Then she went into prostitution to recoup her losses.
