High-end nannies or sugar babies?

“For the first time in my life, prostitution sounds civilized and innocent to me.”

“I see nothing wrong with it if both are single and it’s a consensual relationship.”

These are two typical reactions (in Chinese) to a new form of shady business emerging in the Chinese nanny market, where young and pretty girls are hired by wealthy older men to take care of not only their household chores but also their client’s sexual needs.

Kankan News discovered (in Chinese) an underground market in Beijing on a series of nanny-seeking posts on several recruiting websites. While the average monthly salary for a full-time Chinese nanny in the capital ranges from 5,000 yuan ($750) to 8,000 yuan ($1,200), a few job postings, marked as “private” (私人 sīrén) or “high-end” (高端 gāoduān), stand out by offering an unusually high salary of more than 20,000 yuan ($3,000) per month.

A reporter from Kankan News applied for one of these positions and was given a job interview. During the interview, she was told that the minimum monthly wage for a private nanny was around 30,000 yuan ($4,500), and that only basic skills were required such as cooking and laundry. However, she was also told that a private nanny needs to live with her employer.

Satisfied with the female reporter’s age and look, the manager introduced her to a potential customer, a 42-year-old man running a clothing business, who explicitly told the reporter that he was looking for a “nanny to sleep with” (陪床阿姨 péichuángāyí).

The Beijing police have opened an investigation into the case and vowed to punish any form of prostitution.

• Historical sensitivities
  Five punished for photo stunt at Shanghai war landmark / China Daily
  “Five people who were involved in posing for pictures dressed in Imperial Japanese Army uniforms in front of a stronghold used by Chinese soldiers to repel Japanese invaders during the Battle of Shanghai in 1937 received punishment for breaking the law.”
• Education and live streaming
  10 museums in 10 days? A Chinese start-up (virtually) gives children a tour / NYT (paywall)
  For educators, live streaming is a tool not a business model / TechNode
• Disabilities
  Visually impaired student denied college dorm room / Sixth Tone
• Entertainment
  The top 10 male Chinese actors you need to know / China Film Insider
• Pandas
  Giant panda Beibei celebrates 2-year-old birthday in U.S. / Xinhua
• Street disputes
  Woman leaves car blocking neighborhood gate, returns to find it on roof / Shanghaiist
• Nationalism
  Hangzhou middle school’s ‘orientation training’ draws comparisons to Wolf Warrior 2 / Shanghaiist