China’s first sex doll experience hall: opened in the factory district sex and loneliness

When I arrived at Guanlan Street, Longhua District, Shenzhen, it was close to noon.

This area is well-known for its industrial zone and satellite city. There are many factories and most of the factory sites are named after “XX Industrial Park” and “XX Technology City”.

The shop of “Ai Lele Real Doll Experience Hall” (hereinafter referred to as “experience hall”) is located in an alleyway, set against the surrounding tea shops, health shops, foot wash shops, book bars and other shops. Its appearance is unremarkable. Just looking at the name, I thought it was a sex shop.

This is the first real human doll experience hall in China, which opened in September 2018. Customers can spend 188 yuan for an hour with realistic-looking sex dolls. In addition, these dolls are also sold at prices ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 yuan.

At the beginning of its birth, silicone dolls were sold with “tool” attributes as “adult supplies”, and now they are becoming a niche but not to be ignored industry. The domestic solid silicone doll market has developed for 10 years, and Dongguan and Dalian have complete solid silicone doll production factories. Some people regard dolls as large ornamental hands, and others give them emotions and become emotional substitutes and companions.

The boss Li Bo went to lunch. A male clerk was surprised when I saw that I was a girl. He pointed to the sign affixed to the glass door: ladies and minors were forbidden to enter.

However, he let me in.

doll

The front desk is a table without reception staff. There is a living room separated by a wall from the front desk. Three or four palm or lip-shaped soft sofas are placed at will, and there are smoke and tea sets on the coffee table.

I later learned that at the beginning, a real doll was placed near the glass door, which scared people and was reported, so I had to remove it.

On the second floor, you need to go through a spiral staircase made of steel, colorful lights flashing on the handrails, mosaic wallpaper, and the lights in the corridor are dim.

The second floor is the essence of this shop. Ten rooms, each with a real-life silicone doll sitting on a circular bouncer, ranging in height from 148cm to 168cm and weighing from 40-50 kg to 70 kg. They are wearing cool sexy lingerie, either glamorous, pure, or charming. They are both eastern and western. They are the ideal standard beauty for people.

Although I imagined the scene I would encounter, this huge impact still made me unable to react for a moment. The doll’s dress, appearance, physical characteristics, makeup, red lights in the room, heating rods, condoms, simple sinks, hand soap, paper towels, everything points to a clear goal-sex.

Boss Li Bo came back in time, flat head, wearing a large black and white striped T-shirt, hurried. He also brought Xiaoyan, a makeup artist from a nearby beauty salon, who was going to make up 10 dolls for 15 yuan.

Xiaoyan was the first time to make-up a sex doll and seemed very unskilled. Her first black curly-haired doll wore fishnet socks, with huge breasts and a very thin waist—this is also a favorite doll of customers at present. When applying makeup, Xiaoyan tried to avoid the doll’s body and focused only on her face. The whole procedure is the same as applying makeup, cleansing, moisturizing, applying powder and blush, drawing eyebrows, painting lipstick, etc.

During the chat with me, Li Bo reminded Xiaoyan: “Be careful, the last time a makeup artist applied mascara, the baby was scrapped.”

Li Bo has been unable to give specific data on “how many dolls have been scrapped”. Only one week after opening the store, four scraps were scrapped. “People don’t cherish it. Someone even scratches the doll with a knife to vent their emotions.”

“It’s a big trouble, it’s not good for anyone.” Some guests just mastered this kind of psychology, so they dared to destroy it with impunity. Li Bo could only admit it.

Xiaoyan spent 15 minutes putting on makeup for the black curly doll, and she straightened her waist and sighed. “Powder doesn’t stick on it all the time, and keeps rubbing it off.” The newly dressed doll looks too grand, and her lips are as red as cannibalism.

adventure

I asked Li Bo a question that many people have asked: Why did you do this?

“I have wanted to stay in Shenzhen for so many years, otherwise I will not be reconciled?” The 33-year-old Li Bo almost took this “unprecedented” career as his last chance to make a fate-13 and a half years old, he was from Enshiyuan, Hubei He went to work in a shoe factory in Jinjiang, Fujian, and later moved to Shenzhen. In this fast-growing city, he tried many times to start a business, open a pizzeria, act as an agent, and open a restaurant …

In the spring of 2018, when Li Bo ended his previous venture and strolled on the e-commerce website, he found that the silicone doll’s attention and views were not low. Entering the keyword of “physical silicone doll”, there are hundreds of shops in the top. Single deal. When visiting the factory in Dongguan, the boss told him that because online transactions can avoid the embarrassment of strange visions and provide freedom, the volume of online silicone dolls is much larger than offline.

“Physical silicone dolls are not cheap. The dolls with a height of 1.6 meters are about 20,000 yuan, which is hard for ordinary people to afford. Why don’t I open an offline experience store and really need it, then go to my Taobao store to buy it?” Li Bo realized this was an opportunity.

For Li Bo, who spent his adolescence in the factory, he knew more about the pain of sexual depression. “I have an observation on this movie. When I am at work, the ratio of men to women in the factory is 7: 3. When I am off work, I look at it in the fast food restaurant. Of the 20 people, I can only see one or two young women. I just want to attract the surroundings. Workers, these men always need an exit. “

But from the beginning, Li Bo took huge risks. Originally, five friends participated in the investment. After the doll was bought back and experienced, three people chose to withdraw. Two of them changed the investment funds to loans. The remaining money was replenished by credit card cash.

Ten dolls, the most expensive is 9,600 yuan, the cheapest is more than 6000, plus scrapped dolls and decoration, has spent more than 400,000 Li Bo.

“Water, electricity, labor, and smoke and tea to entertain guests … Every day, as long as the door is opened, it means 800 yuan is flying!”

For example, today, Li Bo is worrying about credit card repayments. At least 3 credit cards need to be paid off within two days, and one has expired. But he really has no money.

Risk also comes from traditional social perceptions and regulation. On this day I came, someone reported the opening of Li Bo’s store. Many strangers called and asked. Li Bo was a little apprehensive and repeatedly asked friends for advice. Will the information on Weibo affect the future of the store.

Although the lawyer told him that his approach was not a problem from the existing legal provisions, it was still in the cracks. No publicity, no guests come, publicity, and worry about bad effects.

Regarding the “experience hall”, a lawyer said in an interview with the media that the experience hall should not conduct any publicity identified as advertisements, otherwise it could be easily identified as a violation of the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law. “This thing is new and does not rule out the possibility of forming an alternative industry in the future, but it takes a process.”

The arrival of the guests made Li Bo temporarily distract.

It was getting dark. After turning around the road of the shop, when there were fewer people, Hu Feng just stepped into the shop with courage.

In order to explore the face of the live-action doll experience hall, he took a car for over two hours to come over from Dongguan.

Hu Feng, 23, followed his relatives to build roads in the suburbs of Dongguan. Workers are all 30- to 40-year-olds. He is the youngest. “I don’t go to the construction site for a month. The only pastime is to play with my mobile phone. The construction site takes several hours to go to Dongguan city. Normal physiological needs cannot be solved at all.”

Hu Feng knows that working on the construction site is not a long-term solution. He has been isolated from the outside world for a long time, and even girls do not know how to speak. He used to learn computer technology, but he didn’t even learn programming for a semester, so he gave up. “I will definitely come out from this group in the future.”

Since 2014, the anti-crime storm has swept through Dongguan, and it has become very difficult to find places that can provide sexual services. Hu Feng once tried big health care, but given the recent hard-hit situation, he gave up.

The family has been looking for Hu Feng since last year, but there has been no progress. “I really want to find a girlfriend, but I look ugly and can’t talk. No one likes it …”

lonely

Many times, I feel that when these men come to Li Bo’s store, in addition to physical vents, they should be emotional vents. Li Bo became the one who accepted bad emotions. The parlour is where the story really takes place. It is a place where these men can show their fragile hearts without fear.

Li Bo has always been familiar with anyone, and he can talk to anyone. “Those who come late at night are lonely people tortured by desire.” When Li Bo invited guests to sit down and talk, drink some tea, and handed a cigarette, few would refuse.

An uncle with a language barrier came once when he opened his business, and for the second time in the near future, he fell in love with a woman on the Internet, transferred a 50 yuan red envelope, and was immediately hacked … but he still thought about Wan One partner really loves himself.

Someone came to the shop late at night and turned around: “Where is your little girl?” He didn’t believe that Li Bo’s shop only had dolls, “you must have resources”, and the guests were entangled.

23-year-old Xu Ming often comes to the store, but he hasn’t tried it after trying it once. He came here just to chat with Li Bo and drink tea. Xu Ming felt that Li Bo particularly understood him.

Li Bo’s evaluation of him is also very high: looking stubborn, it is actually a sense of responsibility. Xu Ming is doing three jobs, working as a security guard during the day, going to a restaurant as an apprentice after work, delivering food for take-out late at night, and often taking a break at three or four in the morning. Most of his monthly salary goes to his home for his sister to study. He knew he was not good at finding a girlfriend. “The relationship now is very mundane, no money is not enough.”

“What kind of work do you do? Your education? Do you have a house?” Xu Ming hasn’t tried real feelings yet. He fills his time with uninterrupted work every day. “In Shenzhen, you have to make money. Everyone is trying to make money, isn’t it?”

The lonely story belonging to Li Bo happened in the early morning. People have to go to work during the day and business usually starts in the afternoon. Li Bo often comes to the shop at noon and doesn’t go home until early in the morning.

His home is located in Bantian, Longgang District, nearly 20 kilometers from the store, and it takes more than an hour to ride an electric car. When Li Bo arrived home, his real estate agent’s wife was already asleep. The streets are empty and the evening wind blows in the summer. He occasionally remembers his four-year-old daughter, his elderly parents, who stayed in his hometown. “What I am doing is to give my family a better future.” Li Bo is convinced.