Ladies of the Night

I was duly warned about the oldest profession in Shanghai and aptly so. My first week there offered many opportunities to meet such ladies, usually making a bee-line for me in the tourist areas to 'practice English.' They also show up in force on weekends at places like XinTianDi, the foreigner bar area - I spent an hour or so chatting with one as she became more desperate to get me to leave, starting with "let's go meet my friends" to calling in her associate as backup to offering full 2-on-1 action. Regardless, the girls spread out on every other barstool to await their prey, or, as I saw in another place, they are run by a pimp who directs them to westerners coming in the door. It was all rather amusing.