The Garden of Forbidden Fruits

The Garden of Forbidden Fruits

There's a saying in mainland China that men turn bad when they get rich, and women get rich when they turn bad. And nowhere is this adage more evident than in the small industrial town of Dongguan in the Guangdong province of China, only an 80km bus-ride away from Hongkong.

Dongguan is already well-known in the region as the sex playground of of the Chinese businessmen. These men, mostly businessmen of the Chinese diaspora--from places like Hongkong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia--all make it a point to stop by here during their business trips for a relaxing interlude of song and sex. Dongguan has become the de facto concubine capital of China.

I've been to China many times before--even to the cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen close by--but I've never had the opportunity to visit Dongguan yet. But I know many of my friends (all married) make regular trips there. Some of them go just for a voracious weekend of whoring, others to visit their regular mistresses. They tell me that the mainland Chinese women are different; having tasted their charms, they say, one will never bother to pick up women from elsewhere.

Keeping mainland Chinese mistresses seems to be the trend these days, even here in KL; there are many female mainland Chinese "students" studying in colleges here who eagerly hunt for local men to sponsor their fees and living expenses. Both sides look at it as a win-win arrangement.

These philandering men, tired of their nagging wives back home, and probably driven by the desperation of a balding middle-age, find great solace and excitement in the arms of these charming mainland maidens. Some keep it as a pure "business" arrangement, others progress into more serious relationships.

I suppose one needs to be married to really understand the thrill of such illicit affairs. The forbidden fruit always tastes sweeter. Being single, all fruits are permitted; so I'm denied the "excitement" of such extra-marital affairs. Perhaps only by eating from this Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, can one then fully experience what is real pleasure, and more importantly, real pain.