A night club competition in a small Chinese village has stirred ire and controversy among its residents. The establishment, simply called “The Club” by locals, is located outside the small town of Zinghucan, which lies on the border with Burma.
The contest is a weekend event attracting local ladies and some women who travel to the establishment. The club’s manager, Bao Huang, described “the challenge” as a dozen or so girls whose goal is to remove an entire chocolate coating from a banana by consuming it. “You don’t bite the banana,” Huang explained. “You lick off chocolate, and first one to remove it without biting is winner.”
The contest has reportedly been a staple for several years without much incident until recently. Temporary transplant, Francesco Ricci, of Rieti, Lazia described the matches perhaps more bluntly than the club’s owner. Ricci said he experienced these in Rome at the more raucous clubs. “It was informally called a ‘banana licking contest,’” Ricci explained. “Except instead of chocolate, they’d use whip cream.” Ricci said that prizes for the winners ranged from small cash awards to adult toys.
But not everyone is happy with the weekend events. Reported regulations as far away as Beijing has stirred a crackdown. Li Chen is head of the local Gaqa, a village committee described as the 5th or lowest tier of government. Chen said that he has received cease & desist orders from sub-prefectural officials, a government body two levels below the province.
The sentiment appears to be split among older and younger generations. Ah cy, a grandmother of 83 years (and who did not want to use her last name) described the club as both disgusting and a disgrace. Ah cy’s granddaughter, Jing Desiree, 20, however, dismissed such feelings as old fashioned. The American educated Desiree has participated in the contests and has even won several. “Things are changing,” Desire explained. “The old ways are in the past. Plus, it’s just having some fun.”
Club owner Huang agrees with the latter. “Some women have become haughty,” Huang declared. “They have become too feminist.” But Huang thinks that Chinese women have much to offer. “They’re traditional and sensual at the same time,” he said. “What guy doesn’t want that?” Huang said that regardless of what the government does, he has no plans to quit any time soon. “It’s tradition, paradise, and fun all rolled into one,” he said.
Alessandra Chiu, Staff Writer