Thread: China cracks down on funeral strippers hired to attract mourners

Chinese authorities are cracking down on the practice of hiring strippers as funeral entertainment, a technique some rural families use to increase the turnout at a loved one's final farewell.



The country's Ministry of Culture said late last month it would be targeting "striptease" and other "obscene, pornographic and vulgar performances" at funerals and other gatherings across Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Hebei provinces.

It has urged witnesses to call a special hotline to report any performances, with rewards on offer for informants, according to the state-run Global Times newspaper.

"The crowd is pushed to climax, roaring with laughter, whistling, applauding and cursing," state media said.

"As the performers saunter into the audience to jiggle their breasts and rub men's crotches, a reminder of 'no photographs allowed' can occasionally be heard."

Hiring entertainment for funerals is a longstanding practice in rural China, as ensuring a high number of mourners attend the ceremony is a way of showing respect to the dead, the Global Times reported.

"Chinese rural households are more inclined to show off their disposable incomes by paying out several times their annual income for actors, singers, comedians, and — most recently, strippers — to comfort the bereaved and entertain the mourners," state media said.

Strippers are also sometimes hired for weddings and temple fairs.
'Fertility worship' or 'cultural atavism'?
A stripper performs at a funeral in China. There is an image of a man's face with a condolence message on the screen behind her.
Photo: The face of the deceased and a condolence message is projected behind the performer. (Weibo, file)

An expert quoted in the newspaper partly attributed the practice of hiring exotic dancers to "fertility worship", as the erotic elements at funerals "convey the deceased's wishes of being blessed with many children".

"According to the interpretation of cultural anthropology, the fete is originated from the worship of reproduction," another media expert said.

"Therefore the erotic performance at the funeral is just a cultural atavism."

This is also not the first time China has tried to stamp out the practice.

In 2015 two villages in the provinces of Hebei and Jiangsu made headlines with viral photos of strippers at funerals inviting "grieving" men to come on stage and undress them — seniors and children are seen standing nearby watching attentively.

The Ministry of Culture also released a similar statement to this report in 2015 describing the hiring of strippers at funerals as "uncivilised", Xinhua news agency reported at the time.

The BBC also reported a similar crack down in Jiangsu province in 2006, which saw five striptease troupe leaders detained by authorities.

China cracks down on funeral strippers hired to entertain mourners, attract larger crowds - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)


Some the girls shuffling round the poles in Nana look like they are at a funeral. The chinese girls could gets some tips for a more funereal tempo.

They should do what the Thais do- provide free food and they will come, in droves usually!

Originally Posted by Thai3

They should do what the Thais do- provide free food and they will come, in droves usually!

Then all the seppos will turn up.

This thread is poor. Not enough pics for me to be properly disgusted.

Originally Posted by Looper

"The crowd is pushed to climax

Must be bloody good strippers then...

This news (maybe not this particular article) is about a year old.

apparently Taiwan has being doing it for decades

Thais don't turn up for the food and drink they turn up in their droves for the Casino.

Originally Posted by Thai3

They should do what the Thais do- provide free food and they will come, in droves usually!