Young man in China pays US$210 a day for bodyguard to look good on visit to hometown at Lunar New Year, demand for such services rises 4-fold
- Bodyguard hired online to provide security, hold bag, umbrella
- Young man aims to impress matchmakers, find ‘good’ women
A man in China hired a bodyguard to escort him to his hometown during the Spring Festival so he could impress his neighbours and local matchmakers.
The man in his 20s, who uses the name Xiaoran, paid the burly bouncer 1,500 yuan (US$210) a day to drive him from Beijing where he worked to Hebei province in northern China, and provide other celebrity-style services including carrying his bag and holding his umbrella, china.com.cn reported this month.
Xiaoran said he did so to impress matchmakers in his hometown so that they could introduce him to “good” women.
An unexpected effect of his deception was that his neighbours, who used to argue about the use of shared land between their properties, had taken a more relaxed attitude to the situation, allowing Xiaoran’s family sole use.
Xiaoran is just one of the thousands of people who bought private bodyguard services from China’s e-commerce platforms during the months leading up to the Lunar New Year.