With prosperity comes indulgence, and many in China are taking advantage of their wealth by buying cars, homes … and mistresses.

 

While no statistical information reflects the growing trend, plenty of anecdotes have surfaced in China revealing the habit of rich businessmen and powerful politicians to spend lavishly on one or more affairs.

 

Jian, a 42-year-old property developer in Shenzhen, told The New York Times that he spends $6,100 a month on his 20-year-old companion. Jian, who withheld his full identity, lest he endanger his relationship with his wife, likened his mistress to his golf habit—“both are expensive hobbies.”

 

Many Chinese are not happy with recent scandals that have exposed high-profile cases of embezzlement and corruption among the country’s elite. The accused also were found to have a lust for multiple lovers who were “sustained through stipends, furnished apartments and luxury sports cars,” according to The New York Times. According to a government report, Railway Minister Liu Zhijun, who was removed from office because of embezzlement, had 18 mistresses before his fall from power.

 

Another unsettling revelation in China is the existence of online “College Concubine Agencies” claiming to represent nearly all universities in Beijing and Shanghai. The websites, with convenient price guides, make it easy for older men to find the mistress of their choice.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

China’s New Wealth Spurs a Market for Mistresses (by Dan Levin, New York Times)

Degrading Online Mistress Ads Pimp Out Chinese University Students (Xinhua via eChinaCities.com)