新年租个男友回家过年吧

With the Spring Festival just days away, millions of people are rushing home for family reunions, and of course the New Year’s Eve Dinner. But many young people are feeling the holiday blues, as they know "returning home single" is going to invite those curious stares and never ending questions about when they are going to tie the knot. Yu Li takes a look at a service that might help buy those anxious singles, buy a little breathing space.

It’s the same dreaded feeling all Chinese single women, especially those in their 30s, feel when coming home for the holidays. What are they dreading? Questions like these.

Questions are like:

"Do you have a boyfriend yet?"

"Why not? "

And they’ll keep pushing:

"Hurry up and find a man, you’re just wasting your time. Women can’t afford to wait cause time doesn’t wait for you."

With parents, relatives and family friends all upping the pressure, one service promises to buy those yet to get hitched, a little more time by offering rental boyfriends.

China’s leading e-commerce site is seeing an explosion of requests for boyfriends-for-hire. One young man thinks it’s a cool way to earn some money during the holidays. Here is online ad.

He is charging 300 yuan a day. If the high price scares you, he’s offering some freebies, including holding hands and hugs.

But a kiss is going to set one back 50 yuan each time, and it’s going to cost 30 yuan per hour for chatting with the parents. Moreover, he wants his potential client to pay his accommodation fare.

Here’s another guy who wants 800 yuan a day extra for shopping, chatting, watching movies and attending parties. If he needs to drink alcohol, more fees will be levied.

More than 260 rent-a-boy friend services are available on Taobao, with more popping up after news of the service spread across the Internet.

The emerging business caters to those who are anxious to bring a boyfriend home to meet their parents.

Tang Denghua, clinical psychology center of Peking Univ. said:" Parents hope their children have their own family and careers, so youngsters are under great pressure. Renting boy-or-girl-friends on the internet is a kind of method to release such pressure."

However, rent-a-boy friend services have stirred debate. Some feminists and sociologists say this is caused by Chinese traditional thinking. They are suggesting single women and parents change their minds to suit the times.

Tang Denghua said:" Single women are afraid of irritating their parents if they can’t bring home a good partner during the Spring Festival. Such attitudes are normal and understandable. But I think they should enjoy the festival in a positive and happy mood. That’s the most important thing."

Experts say people should have a positive attitude about being single. The upcoming Spring Festival should be an opportunity to reflect on what one wants from a relationship, not the burden of getting into one just to please others.