tuscl

Taiwan

I was in Taipei a few years back and we were walking around at night. I was struck by how many shops were open at 10 o'clock: watch shops, little stand-up eateries, department stores, newstands, etc. Here's my question: we walked past a couple of places that looked like barber shops, I think they may have even had the spinning barber poles outside. If you looked in the big plate glass windows, there were nice plush carpets laid down, like Persian rugs. Some rugs didn't look like they fit quite right, wrong dimensions. Inside looked like a row of barber chairs, but I think they had fabric coverings draped over them.

The amazing thing, though, was maybe 5 or 6 hot Chinese girls standing there in the colorful kimono-like silk gowns. They all made eye contact and the vibe was unmistakable--it seemed to me that they were offering more than a haircut. I stopped in my tracks and wanted to investigate. Our party had women in it, so it was a little uncomfortable, and we had to keep moving. To this day, I am not sure what was exactly going on. Anybody have experience with this? Do these barbershops become something else after-hours? Are there backrooms? Would they really just cut your hair, give a shave, pamper you and that's it? They really, really wanted my business and I almost came back later by myself to check it out, but I wasn't sure how safe that would be.

I didn't want to be knifed and thrown into the massive stinking piles of garbage that seemed to pop up every so often in a random block. Where here a construction site might be surrounded with a wooden high-board fence, there they had a fence around what seemed to be a small landfill.

6 comments

  • thesamurai
    13 years ago
    larry those aren't barber shops, they don't cut hair. They are fuck shops.
    Its like in Japan the prostitution areas are called soap land but ain't nobody taking a soapy bath ;)

    As with any red light district you have to watch your back.
  • looneylarry
    13 years ago
    @sam, do they revert back to barbershops in the morning, or are they fuck shops 24/7? They looked like they had a temporary quality to them. I have to say that the girls looked very nice, they were much, much higher than the skanky street walker on the scale of looks. So, is it full service in the back? I didn't see any bouncers, no males, no mamasans--were they behind the door to the back? What do figure the market price was? (like I'm gonna jump on the plane tomorrow) Is the full menu available? Is it a geisha-like deal where they entertain you and pamper you?
  • Blue42TX
    13 years ago
    My friend travelled to this place and went in for a haircut.....then they offered him a massage. Next thing that happened he was laying there and the girl was giving him a bj. After it was done...he ran outside and looked the sign outside to see what it says . He only recognized a little of the language and it had the word massage in it.
  • steve229
    13 years ago

    When I served in the military, stationed in Korea, the local " barbershops" were strictly off-limits for GI's.
  • georgmicrodong
    13 years ago
    @steve: The same was true for Marines in Okinawa.
  • Ermita_Nights
    13 years ago
    I'm curious about this too. Most Asian cities seem to have unmistakable red-light district, with actual red lights just in case you don't get the hint from the girls. But Taiwan and Japan are different, it's more subtle. And China is completely inscrutable, I can't figure out how you get laid there. There's probably a web site somewhere that explains it all.
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