In Beijing, China, I operated an O2O (Online-to-Offline) sex doll rental service. The concept of “shared girlfriends” first emerged in Shanghai, alongside the quiet rise of numerous “adult experience venues.” My first encounter with this industry was in the summer of 2019 when a random notification introduced me to this peculiar business model. Out of curiosity, I made a reservation. When I arrived at the location, I was shocked—not by the novel sexual experience, but by how incredibly busy this small establishment was. I eventually decided not to proceed with the rental, feigning hesitation, but I took the opportunity to chat with the sociable business owner.
That conversation planted the seed for my own adult sex doll rental business. I partnered with an old colleague’s friend, and after thorough discussions, we quickly set up a sex doll rental shop. From the very start, business was booming. Unlike traditional industries, our daily bookings were consistently high, especially on weekends, when appointments were necessary to secure a spot. Those days kept us on our toes, but the sight of our growing income provided a sense of fulfillment and security we had never experienced before.
Authorities did conduct occasional inspections, and we even encountered undercover police officers attempting to entrap us by inquiring about real human involvement. However, after confirming that our business strictly involved dolls, we were left unbothered. While the job was exhausting, interacting with all kinds of customers brought a sense of satisfaction. But before long, everything changed.
Our main customer acquisition channel was through group-buying websites like Meituan and Dianping. However, as regulations tightened and news broke about the closure of the first adult sex doll experience store, our business was flagged as a sensitive category. Within a month, our revenue plummeted from over 100,000 dollars per month to less than 20,000 dollars. Fortunately, the industry was highly profitable, so even with a significant drop in revenue, we managed to cover costs and scrape together a small profit.
Although we weren’t yet operating at a loss, we recognized this as a bad omen. As expected, the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 dealt a devastating blow to all physical storefronts, including ours. We were forced to shut down for two months while rent and utility costs piled up. At that moment, we faced two choices:
- Cut our losses, close the shop, and move on to other ventures.
- Find a new way to pivot and free ourselves from the constraints of a brick-and-mortar sex doll rental business.
The latter option seemed promising and aligned with the internet-driven future, but in reality, it felt like stumbling in complete darkness with no clear direction. What ultimately convinced us to push forward were the personal stories shared by a few of our loyal customers. One in particular left a deep impression on me.
The Story of a Second-Generation Wealthy Entrepreneur
One of our regular customers, whom I will call Yang, has been visiting our store since we opened in 2019. Yang was an unattractive man in his early thirties, standing under 5’3” with a somewhat vacant expression. Initially, he was just another face in the crowd—until one winter night changed everything.
That evening, as I was tidying up after closing, I discovered a necklace around the neck of one of the love dolls. At first, I thought nothing of it, as some customers would bring accessories to personalize their experience. However, upon closer inspection, I realized this was a Swarovski necklace—an expensive and unusual choice.
I reviewed the customer logs and sent out discreet text messages to inquire about the lost item (to protect customer privacy, we avoided phone calls). The response came from Yang. His reply was simple: “That was a gift for her.” I was struck by his choice of words—he referred to the doll as “her,” not “it.”
After that, I made a point to place the necklace on the love doll whenever Yang visited. Over time, he opened up to us. Because my business partner and I had backgrounds in journalism and psychology, we had a knack for getting people to share their stories.
Yang revealed that his family was well-known in Beijing’s real estate industry—he was a bona fide second-generation wealthy heir. His parents had worked their way up from humble beginnings, starting with sand-dredging operations along the Yellow River in the 1980s, gradually amassing their fortune. However, Yang was born with health issues, making him frail and short. His parents initially cared for him, but after they had a second son, their attention shifted entirely to his younger brother.
Unlike Yang, his younger brother was tall, intelligent, and destined to inherit the family business. Yang, meanwhile, remained unemployed in his thirties. His parents gave him a generous allowance but kept him hidden from their social circles as if he were an embarrassment. Feeling neglected, Yang withdrew from society, spending his days lost in video games and anime. He became socially inept and increasingly invisible within his own family. Eventually, his parents rented him an apartment, supplying him with a monthly allowance of 10,000 yuan but little else.
He admitted to feeling intense jealousy toward his brother, particularly when he saw him effortlessly attracting girlfriends. The only physical intimacy Yang ever experienced was through hiring escorts—until he was caught in a police sting operation. After his father paid the fine, he beat Yang mercilessly outside the police station, screaming, “You’re a disgrace! I should beat you to death!” It was only thanks to the intervention of police officers that his father was restrained.
Terrified, Yang swore off prostitution. But his need for intimacy remained. He turned to adult anime and pornography for solace, fantasizing about relationships he could never have. Then, he discovered the existence of sex doll rental services in Beijing.
He told me that the first time he saw “her,” he was captivated. She never showed disgust toward him, never looked down on him. Instead, she silently listened to his grievances. For Yang, our sex doll rental store was more than just a place to satisfy physical desires—it became his emotional sanctuary. He even gave his favorite doll a name: “Li Wen.” To him, she was real. She was the goddess he had never dared to dream of touching in real life.
On his birthday, Yang gifted Li Wen the Swarovski necklace, believing that in his dream world, she would adore it.
When we announced our closure in March 2020, Yang was devastated. He wept as he clung to Li Wen, crying so hard that his entire body trembled. I walked in to find a man utterly broken.
At that moment, I made a decision. Since we were shutting down anyway, I offered to give him the doll. But he refused. He explained that he could buy a doll anytime, but his father would never tolerate him keeping one. If discovered, his father would kill him.
Instead, he begged me to keep her safe. And so, I promised Yang that I would store Li Wen for him. To this day, every time he places an order, I retrieve that old, worn-out sex doll from the back of our warehouse, carefully clean her up, adorn her with the Swarovski necklace, and deliver her to him.
In a city as vast as Beijing, I have seen countless shades of human desire. But if I can do the sex doll rental store to preserve Yang’s fragile dream, I will continue to do so.
