Girlfriends for rent during Spring Festival

(Ecns.cn)--With the Chinese Spring Festival just around the corner, many bachelors who live far from their hometowns are starting to worry. That's because without a girlfriend to take home to their parents, the Lunar New Year family reunion can be a real pain.

In order to spare themselves the endless nagging, many single men will "rent" girlfriends to take home and trick their parents with.

"I want to rent a girlfriend to accompany me home at a daily price of 300 yuan ($47.5)," reads an ad posted online by a man named "Ma Fei" in Fuzhou, east China's Fujian Province. "We may hold hands in front of my parents, but no further actions, and I hope that you can have meals with my parents."

Ma Fei's hometown is in Zhangzhou city, Fujian Province, but he's worked in Fuzhou for over three years. "Since I began working in Fuzhou, every year when I go home during festivals, my parents always try to persuade me to find a girlfriend and get married soon."

But Ma's busy life and job leave no time for dating. "I heard about renting a girlfriend on the Internet, and now four girls have replied to me for more details," he says.

This kind of service is not only available for men: in cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, single girls can also rent boys, but the price is higher, usually around 500 yuan ($79.2).

"Renting a boyfriend or girlfriend can help some single people mitigate the tension with their parents, but it is not a cure," said Chen Zhenping, director of a mental health service center in Fuzhou.

The practice of renting girlfriends has been a popular theme on many Chinese TV shows. Though most of them have happy endings – with the rented girl marrying the man – the reality is far less optimistic.