A woman looks at pictures of people at a dating agency at the Shanghai Marriage Expo. Peter Parks | AFP | Getty Images

The run-up to this year's Lunar New Year holiday in China has seen a surge in demand for rented girlfriends or boyfriends, as single millennials look to pass themselves off to their families as being in a relationship when they go home for the annual celebrations. In China, where producing offspring is seen as an important filial obligation, pressure to get married and give birth can be overwhelming, so much so that people seek this temporary – and pricey – solution to appeasing their parents and other relatives. The cost of renting a pretend partner typically ranges from 500 yuan to 2,000 yuan a night, plus expenses. However, prices have soared ahead of the Spring Festival holiday, during which young urban dwellers return home for family reunions. One desperate bachelor is offering to pay up to 6,000 yuan on Chinese social media platform Baidu to a woman who'll have a meal and spend a night with his family.



Chinese couples sit at by the side the street in Shaanxi, China. Zhang Peng | LightRocket | Getty Images

On one Chinese website dedicated to boyfriend and girlfriend rental, most of the customers are bachelors looking for a decent, polished woman to play their girlfriend. Many customers, and fake partners for hire, specify that they only require or provide "green" services – meaning no sexual services are involved, not even kissing. "I am renting out my time only, not my body," says a 27-year-old woman from Shenzhen on the website.

One man claims to be a professional actor and says he can not only pretend to be a temporary boyfriend or lover, but provide emotional support and even enter a fake marriage. Another one offering his services says he can provide cover to a client for an extended period of time by making regular phone calls to their parents – for an extra charge, of course.

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Fiveof the best places in East Asia to ring in the Year of theRooster Users of this website are required to register, meaning they must state their occupation, marital status, educational background, weight and height. It is also mandatory they register their body shape (choosing from descriptions such as sexy, curvy, petite, standard and muscular). Since most such websites function merely as chat rooms to connect two parties, rather than as middlemen, there is no way of ensuring the quality of the services a fake partner provides if hired, or that they match their profile pictures – or even whether they will show up. However, some businesses have adopted a more sophisticated and lucrative model. One such website, Zuren77, uses the tagline "rent a person for one dollar" and calls itself a crowdfunding platform. Its interface looks very similar to that of online shopping apps; there are location filters to narrow down your search, recommendations of popular products and a shopping cart to which to add your desired items – in this case, girls.

People participate in a speed dating event in Shanghai on May 21, 2012. Peter Parks | AFP | Getty Images