<p>An online Chinese sales firm has started a bizarre 'Rent a Boyfriend' service for single women wanting to stave off embarrassing queries about marriage and male companion from their families.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The firm, Taobao.com, China's largest online marketplace, is hoping to cash in on plight of millions of single women during the next month's Chinese New Year, which is traditionally a family reunion period.<br /><br />The online service is offering single women a 'Rent a Boyfriend service to accompany them during their visit friends and families, go shopping, having meals and even getting a kiss out of courtesy.<br /><br />All this for a charge, calculated on hourly basis.<br /><br />According to media reports China has about 180 million singles in the country.<br /><br />Almost all Chinese travel to their native places during the New Year to celebrate with their parents, near and dear.<br /><br />But many single working women regard as the most dreadful time as they have to face the same old question at the family dinner table: Have you got a boyfriend? And for those who haven't found their Mr Right, renting a boyfriend emerges as a solution.<br /><br />"I offer such a service only because I'm bored and know fewer female friends at work," Ding Hui, 27, a salesman in the plastic industry in Shanghai, told official China Daily.<br />He leased himself twice last year during Spring Festival and National Day. His customers were two 28-year-old women.<br /><br />He charged 3,000 yuan each (USD 500) and the customer had to cover his round-trip tickets, accommodations and bought him clothes to make him look smart.<br /><br />More than 260 rent-a-boyfriend services can be found on taobao.com, with the number climbing, the Daily said.<br /><br />Beijing Normal University associate professor of psychology Lin Xiuyun said it's not a good idea to rent a boyfriend or girlfriend to meet one's parents, who will be concerned about more questions, such as when they will get married.<br /><br />"It's better to communicate with parents, who will be hurt more if the white lie ends with a break-up between the fake couple," Lin said. <br /></p>
<p>An online Chinese sales firm has started a bizarre 'Rent a Boyfriend' service for single women wanting to stave off embarrassing queries about marriage and male companion from their families.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The firm, Taobao.com, China's largest online marketplace, is hoping to cash in on plight of millions of single women during the next month's Chinese New Year, which is traditionally a family reunion period.<br /><br />The online service is offering single women a 'Rent a Boyfriend service to accompany them during their visit friends and families, go shopping, having meals and even getting a kiss out of courtesy.<br /><br />All this for a charge, calculated on hourly basis.<br /><br />According to media reports China has about 180 million singles in the country.<br /><br />Almost all Chinese travel to their native places during the New Year to celebrate with their parents, near and dear.<br /><br />But many single working women regard as the most dreadful time as they have to face the same old question at the family dinner table: Have you got a boyfriend? And for those who haven't found their Mr Right, renting a boyfriend emerges as a solution.<br /><br />"I offer such a service only because I'm bored and know fewer female friends at work," Ding Hui, 27, a salesman in the plastic industry in Shanghai, told official China Daily.<br />He leased himself twice last year during Spring Festival and National Day. His customers were two 28-year-old women.<br /><br />He charged 3,000 yuan each (USD 500) and the customer had to cover his round-trip tickets, accommodations and bought him clothes to make him look smart.<br /><br />More than 260 rent-a-boyfriend services can be found on taobao.com, with the number climbing, the Daily said.<br /><br />Beijing Normal University associate professor of psychology Lin Xiuyun said it's not a good idea to rent a boyfriend or girlfriend to meet one's parents, who will be concerned about more questions, such as when they will get married.<br /><br />"It's better to communicate with parents, who will be hurt more if the white lie ends with a break-up between the fake couple," Lin said. <br /></p>