Inside Wan Chai, Hong Kong's Red Light District
Not far from central Hong Kong, the Wan Chai neighborhood has earned a reputation as one of the world's best red light districts. The area is much tamer today than it was in its heyday during the Vietnam War, when visiting American servicemen spurred a boom in Wan Chai's brothels and massage parlors. Although the area these days is far from the den of sin it was when it was immortalized in print with the 1957 novel (and later movie) The World of Suzy Wong, if you walk along the stretch of Lockhart Road just South of the Star Ferry pier at night, you'll see loads of ladyboy streetwalkers and semi-legal girlie bars. I visited Wan Chai to take pictures, check out the clubs, and meet the people who buy and sell sex in Hong Kong.
As I walked through Wan Chai, several streetwalkers solicited me. Most of these sex workers appeared to be transsexuals. Several of the shemales openly advertised themselves as ladyboys, while other prostitutes with clearly visible Adam's apples were less forthcoming. One transsexual streetwalker was practically begging me to go with them to a nearby alley. As I declined, the price kept dropping even though I repeatedly stated that I wasn't interested in paying for sex. The hooker seemed desperate and drug-addled.
The area is also filled with a thriving bar scene, including ordinary watering holes that are popular with Western expats and seedy night clubs promising "models" and "dancers" where sex is obviously on sale. Women sit on stools in front, calling out to passersby. There are purportedly ladies of every nationality available in Wan Chai, but I almost exclusively saw Thai and Filipina women with a smattering of Chinese girls mixed in for good measure. Some of the clubs also had older madam-types out front who tried to entice me to stop in their bars as I walked through the street. All the sex workers and pimps on the street were very nervous about having their pictures taken, and it was difficult to snag even long-distance photos of the brothels.
In front of the "Waikiki Club" I was approached by a woman who told me her name was "Mona." Mona said she was from Bangkok and had been working at the bar for about four months. I asked if she planned on going home and she said she would be finished with her job there after six more months. I asked if she liked working in Hong Kong and she shrugged and began telling me that I smelled good. We were joined by a middle-aged woman who called herself "Mama" and told me I should come in and see "her girls." I asked her what went on in her club, and she told me that I was a "nice boy" so she would "take care of me" and the ladies at Waikiki "do sex real good." I asked her how much it would cost to get laid, and she only replied that I should come in and buy a drink and she'd get me a "special price." "Mama" also told me that I could take one of the girls to a nearby hotel. She said there were a car and driver ready to spirit me away with the woman of my choice. I said "no thanks" and as I walked off the "Mama" followed me down the street for a good distance trying to get me to turn back.
My next stop was the New Makati Pub & Disco, a conventional bar next door to the Waikiki, where I found several businessmen having some after-work drinks. I bought a Jack & Coke and approached a group of suits who were chatting in English. I asked them if they ever visited the brothels in the area and most of them looked at me skeptically over the rims of their pints. One of the men perked up and, with a knowing smirk, asked me if I needed any "recommendations." I told him I'd buy him a drink if he was willing to speak with me about the Wan Chai sex club scene. The man who told me his name was Jack (his name and certain identifying details have been changed for the purposes of this post, but the name he gave me was similarly single-syllabled, and I suspect it was an alias). He was a twentysomething who claimed to be in the midst of spending a year in Hong Kong working for an American bank. Jack told me that he used to frequent the brothels in Wan Chai, but he'd since "learned from his mistakes." He said most of the madams will try to "hustle you" by getting you to pay an exorbitant fee for drinks before listing a variety of additional fees for the sex acts.
According to Jack, "you're better off using the escort services in Hong Kong . . . the girls are prettier and even though it sounds more expensive, it costs about the same." I asked Jack if he had a specific escort agency that he preferred to use and he would only tell me that "there are a lot of good ones in Hong Kong." (I guess Gridskipper readers will have to stick with our Hong Kong Escort Guide when they're in the market for companionship). After less than fifteen minutes, Jack was working his way through his third drink on my tab, and I felt emboldened to ask him how he felt about participating in the notoriously violent, dangerous, and exploitative world of prostitution. I said I was curious to know if he was ever bothered by fears of STD's or worried that he was supporting violent pimps and/or human traffickers. After a brief, awkward silence Jack said "This whole world is fucked, you can't even buy clothes without giving money to something bad." He then quickly changed the subject by asking me about myself. Jack appeared to have been disturbed by my question, but at the same time, I couldn't help but think that he had made a surprisingly good point.
[Photos]
