It’s an enduring mystery for anyone who has spent significant time walking China’s streets: What world lurks in the backrooms of the ubiquitous, neon-lit hair salons conspicuously staffed by scantily clad women?

Hounded to near-extinction under Mao Zedong, prostitution came roaring back along with economic reforms in the 1980s and remains common in Chinese cities today, despite periodic crackdowns. Yet little is known about the lives of its sex workers, particularly those who serve the lower end of the market.

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