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Shanghai Blames Japan, Taiwan for Paid Dating Trend
By wchung | 01 Jun, 2026

The rapid spread of “compensated dating” in Shanghai has local authorities fixing the blame on cultural influences from Japan and Taiwan where young women have been accepting money to go on dates, typically with older men, according to China Times.

Interviews with both the girls, often teens, engaged in paid dating and their clients suggest the trend may simply reflect the callously materialistic values that have been fostered by China’s rapid economic and social change.

One girl engaged in taking pay for dates admitted it was just a way to make some extra money, and that she doesn’t consider it prostitution since she doesn’t necessarily have sex with clients. A date is as likely to involve simply escorting a man for an evening on the town, she claims.

One Taiwanese businessman in Shanghai said he was approached by a young woman who was obviously a student. She told him that the allowance she gets from her middle-class parents isn’t enough, prompting her to seek paid-date customers through friends, agencies and bars.

Another Taiwanese businessman tried to persuade a young woman to give up paid dating only to be told that she found the activity addictive and hated the thought of not having enough spending money.

One young woman said she felt a pang of regret after her first paid date, especially at the prospect of facing her boyfriend. But she decided to continue the practice in order to be able to maintain her standard of living and has grown numb to any feelings of guilt.

It appears most young women who engage in compensated dating simply like having the extra income, and only a few are doing it to pay tuition or pay off debt.