By Tom Phillips , Dongguan. There are no signs outside this backstreet brothel at the heart of China's 'Sin City', just a shadowy alleyway, two metal gates and a pimp named Crow. Inside, on the five-storey villa's ground floor, six prostitutes in fishnet tights and bright red lipstick are slumped onto a sofa, munching on noodles under the pink and blue glow of neon lights. This is Dongguan, a sprawling factory boomtown in the Pearl River Delta that boasts a population of around seven million people and a reputation as the Chinese capital of sex.
For a price here, anything goes. Sex, bribes and murder - China throws book at Bo Xilai. China rocked by five sex scandals in six days. Chinese official warns colleagues: 'don't cheat on your wives'. Chinese 'sex diary' official sentenced to 13 years in prison. Between , and , people β some 10 per cent of Dongguan's migrant population β are in some way employed in the world's oldest profession, according to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.
A staggering , sex workers β known locally as "technicians" β are thought to ply their trade in thousands of side-street massage parlours, exclusive hotels, spas and neon-lit karaoke bars. Intent on shedding the city's image as China's capital of sleaze, authorities are now going on the offensive. A slick new propaganda campaign seeks to recast this grimy manufacturing hub city as a picturesque cradle of culture and diversity.
Everyday, the city manages to excite. Security forces are also chipping in, trying to push prostitution off Dongguan's streets with a "sweeping yellow" crackdown on a trade that was outlawed in China following the Communist takeover.
Last month, the 'New Generation' sex market on Dongguan's outskirts became the latest red-light district to receive a visit from the local constabulary. The outdoor market β a tatty labyrinth of concrete car garages that once served as mini-brothels β now lies abandoned. Dozens of shacks have been shuttered and Public Security Bureau seals adorn the metal doors where prostitutes once loitered.
