Red Lights of Wanchai district




Wanchai has the dubious reputation of being Hong Kong's infamous red light disctrict. I say dubious because now days that is mostly red veneer for tourists. Compared to what goes on in other districts such as Yau Matei and Mong Kok, Wanchai shouldn't even qualify to be called a red light district. The difference is that in Wanchai, the red lights are above ground and out on the street, whereas the most you will see on those other areas are some inconspicuous yellow signs indicating the vicinity of a "one woman, one flat", such signs are written in chinese characters only.

Soliciting customers is illegal in Hong Kong and the same goes for keeping a brothel. But under the British, it was possible to practice prostitution as long as there were no more than one sex worker in the premises. Hence the name one woman one flat. This law hasn't changed.

So if soliciting is illegal, what is the girl in the picture doing, you might ask? Well she is not soliciting, she is just a tout for one of the many "girlie" bars around Wanchai's Lockhart road. Her job is to entice customers (mostly unknowing tourists) to come in and watch girls dancing on a stage. No, the girls don't even strip, they wear bathing suits and stockings. But if a "PR" girl sits with you and you make the mistake of offering her a drink, you will find a nasty surprise at the end: your drinks are priced at regular rates but the girls' drinks can be as many as 10 times costlier. And that service charge is about the only "service" that is available.

Of course it didn't always used to be like this. In it's heyday, Wanchai was indeed a red light district where cheap hotels and adjoining bars full of girls that were available by the hour, made it very convenient for sailors and service men on shore leave to indulge in some freewheeling delights after months at sea. Business culminated with the Vietnam war when GIs were brought here on R&R. And of course the famous book and hollywood movie: "The World of Suzie Wong" were both set in Wanchai. So prevalent and enduring is Wancai's reputation that to this day, girls from reputable families completely avoid the area especially around Louard and Lockhart roads.

Today, sadly - some old china hands would say, the landscape is changing fast. More and more of the girlie bars are disappearing, they are going out of business and being converted into yuppie restaurants, cafes and discos. Business dried up for the girlie bars long ago. The beginning of the end came right after 1997 when Hong Kong was handed over back to China and the US, Australian and British fleets stopped using Hong Kong as one of their destinations for refueling and R&R ports of call. The impact this has had and the resulting changes I would say is one of the most visible that can be directly attributed to the hand-over.

It is surely the end of an era but having said all that, there are still a handful of drinking bars left where a lonely sailor or visiting businessman can still get tempted. Unlike Suzie Wong, the girls are no longer from Hong Kong, instead they form a veritable united nations of itinerant sex workers including Filipino, Thai, Chinese (form the mainland) and occasionally even Mongolians, Puerto Ricans, Russian, Latvian and Lithuanians.




© evangelo costadimas 2005

Posted: Thursday - December 16, 2004 at 11:43 AM          

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