4. The Destinations

This chapter explores the social organization of the Chinese sex business in the ten research sites studied: Hong Kong, Macau, Taipei (Taiwan), Bangkok (Thailand), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Singapore, Jakarta (Indonesia), New York (United States), Los Angeles (United States), and Shenzhen (China). It asks: What is the particular character of these overseas sites that seems to have made them magnets for women from China? What can we learn from looking closely at one prominent site (Shenzhen) in China? What is the nature of the culture of tolerance for commercial sex in each of these cities? Most importantly, is there anything about the sites' character and nature that help us to better understand how transnational human smuggling and trafficking work?