Founded in BC, the city has been a springboard for trading, cultural exchanges, many revolutions and reforms, making it an unavoidable stopover to understand what shapes the modern China. In Guangzhou there are prostitutes everywhere, and although it is illegal, its hardly like if they try to hide the fact that they exist.
These places work in close relationship with the police at least the successful ones , and they are notified hours or even days before raids etc. Obviously there is corruption involved. The police get payed money or get free visits, or maybe both in exchange for information. Officially, prostitution is illegal in mainland China.
The government of China has vacillated, however, in its legal treatment of prostitutes themselves, treating them sometimes as criminals and sometimes as behaving with misconduct. Since the reemergence of prostitution in the s, government authorities have responded by first using the legal system, that is, the daily operations of institutions like courts and police.
Second, they have relied on police-led campaigns, clearly delineated periods of intense public activity, as a form of social discipline. Despite lobbying by international NGOs and overseas commentators, there is not much support for legalisation of the sex sector by the public, social organizations or the government of the PRC. Sex tourism is a big business in China. Almost every five-star hotel has a group of women hanging around that offer a variety of services for male travelers.
Many hotels, including state-owned ones, employ the prostitutes themselves. The government now is making so much effort to fighting prostitution, so everywhere seems a little bit unsafe now. A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc. The term originates from the red lights that were used as signs of brothels. There are areas in many big cities around the world which have acquired an international reputation as red-light districts.
