

According to the February 27 edition of The Beijing News, “pregnancy pads” are a hot-seller among Chinese women wanting to get a seat on the crowded trains running through the nation’s capital. The bulky pad, which women strap over their stomachs to feign pregnancy, however, has also the cause of much trouble, however, as one woman complained to authorities after the item slipped off in public, making her a laughing stock.



The rubber padding is available on a number of Chinese online shopping sites for prices ranging from 300 to 700 yuan (approximately 4,500 to 10,000 yen, or 50-112 US dollars). Sold with tag lines such “realistic looking” and “you wouldn’t know it’s fake by its touch,” the product is said to be in high demand, and offerings online included a “twins-type” and others built according to a specific number of months of pregnancy. One site is said to have sold 59 units in one month and a total of 529 to date.

The pad is also creating controversy, however. A woman in Beijing, who bought a pad after haggling over the price on an Internet bulletin board, wore it on her commute to work. After pushing her way onto a crowded subway car, the pad slipped off and fell to the carriage floor causing those nearby to scoff and jeer. Instead of perhaps rethinking the error of her ways, the women went on to lodge an official complaint, claiming there was “a problem with the item’s quality.” Her grievance, however, was not accepted.

Source: Yahoo! Japan

Images: Ameblo