IT WAS only a matter of time. First prostitution returned to lead the male proletariat astray - now the gigolo is alive and well and living in Beijing.
That is, at least, according to the mainland periodical Bright China Times, which published - under the headline ''The heinous phenomenon of male prostitution'' - a series of profiles of gigolos operating in the Chinese capital.
The magazine adopted a predictably moralising tone, suggesting the young men had been corrupted by Western decadence.
''With the opening to the outside world, there comes not only fresh air but flies and mosquitoes as well,'' it said.
The gigolos tend to be good-looking young men who are either unemployed or hold menial, low-paying jobs and have been lured into a life of sin by middle-aged women, ''successful in their careers but unlucky in love''.
One unemployed 19-year-old was apparently tempted into prostitution after reading a magazine article about gigolos in the West.
He took 10 yuan (HK$13) from his parents and went to the local dance hall to try his luck and was soon picked up by a middle-aged woman who ended up ''renting'' him for a month at a cost of 1,000 yuan, about five times the average worker's salary in Beijing.