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Women
hiring escorts to carry shopping bags
Well-to-do
women in the south-western city of Chengdu are hiring escorts just to carry
loads of purchases on their shopping trips.
This trend of hiring male escorts-cum-porters
is becoming popular among young and fashionable women in the capital of Sichuan
province.
The men, cloaked in their signature yellow
tunic, are often seen walking alongside their clients in busy shopping
districts, reported the Beijing Morning Post.
Their tunic is emblazoned with Chinese
characters, which are the names of a certain shopping centre or bazaar such as
the Women's Street.
These men can earn up to 80 yuan (S$17) a day
just carrying shopping bags.
Said Ms Xian, a regular client: 'These men
help to reduce the troubles of women when they go shopping as they do not have
to carry their own bags.
'However, we have to be cautious when picking
our shopping escorts,' she said, because the women often shop at high-end
boutiques where their escorts could be tempted to shoplift.
'When we do our picking, we look for men with
an honest look and a strong body.'
According to the Beijing Morning Post,
the shopping escorts were previously freelance porters, a common occupation in
mountainous Sichuan where the working tool is a carrying pole.
- 29 January 2003 Singapore
Straits Times
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