Exotic fish tank
- Source: Global Times
- [23:03 March 21 2010]
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Text and photos by Jerry Liu
Luxmie Blanca, 20, from Zimbabwe
Some of the new bars and clubs springing up in Changsha, capital city of Hunan Province, have hit upon a unique selling point: foreign showgirls.
Over the last five years, women from Eastern Europe and African countries have traveled to this booming entertainment industry to work at their spicy night venues.
Thirty years ago, the international concept of "nightlife" did not really exist in China. About the most exciting thing to do in Changsha during those dark times might be to get drunk on cheap alcohol and sing songs with a few factory comrades at a friend's home.
Not only did the majority lack the moolah, but the government always used to outlaw this kind of fun. Not anymore.
Glamour Bar, one of the biggest nightclubs in Changsha, employs 10 young women, mostly from African and Eastern European countries.
These leggy lovelies entertain guests by performing "traditional" dances from their homeland. Then they get jiggy with their Chinese counterparts also employed by the bar.
Between dances, they can be found socializing in the bar, drinking and playing games with their male guests. Part of their job is to persuade these men to drink.
This explains why, on average, the bar sells more than 1,000 bottles of vodka and whisky per night.
Not far from Glamour Bar, Changsha's largest theater employs nearly 30 foreign female performers from countries including Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The three-hour Tianhan Theater show sells out its 2,000 seats every night. The performers work till the early hours of the morning before returning to their shared apartment.
These photos explore the motivations and experiences of foreign girls coming to work in the entertainment industry. The photographer hopes to unveil the complex paradox between the Chinese male gaze and the girls yearning for stardom and attention. However, these foreign migrants are not unaware of their strange cult star status in a booming economy that lusts for increasingly exotic faces.
