A woman in China who runs a women-only bed and breakfast in a tourist town famously known as “the city of romantic encounters” wins online support for keeping women safe from love scams.
The 37-year-old owner, surnamed Lu, who operates four hotels in the city of Lijiang in China’s southwestern Yunnan province, said she changed one of the homestays into a haven for women travellers in June this year.
She told Chinese video outlet Souhu Qianliyan that she made the decision after a female guest had a romantic encounter at one of her hotels with a male guest who turned out to be a scam artist.
Lu described the dramatic moment that police arrested the man for fraud as the flight he took with the unsuspecting woman from Lijiang landed at their destination.
She said the woman had been holidaying in Lijiang to recover from a previous failed relationship but ended up with more trauma.
Lu said she disliked Lijiang’s reputation as a city for finding love and said in reality it is more infamous for one-night stands and love scams targeting lonely women.
“Romantic encounter originally means ‘encounter with beautiful things’, but the word has been increasingly seen as a joke that represents ‘sex’. I wonder why Lijiang is seen this way?” Lu said.
On mainland social media, some attributed it to the city’s entertaining atmosphere and distance from people’s regular lives.
The city has also appeared in romantic television shows such as the 2004 series One Metre Sunshine, which has deepened the impression that the city is a heaven for pure love.
However, Lu said it was more possible to meet “men who think of themselves as predators and women as prey” than true love.
She said that she had more than once warned female guests against men who were only taking advantage of them and, on occasion, had evicted male guests for this reason.
She said the women-only hotel is priced from around 400 yuan (US$55) a night and offers single-use toiletry and personal hygiene supplies that cater to women’s needs while providing a unique service that helps guests get back to their accommodation safely late at night.
“I hope the single women who came to Lijiang just to relax can return home with a rewarding experience,” Lu said.
Her women-only venture has won approval on social media.
“I really like this idea. It can save me a lot of trouble and unwanted male gazes,” said one woman.
“Thumbs-up for the owner’s safety awareness. She puts the experience of her guests before profit,” said another person.
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