Expat Community > China

qinghai
Joined 2004
Posts: 1

Is it a problem for a foreigner to share room w/Chinese girlfriend?

20 years ago

My buddy is going to China this summer to travel with his girlfriend who, though she has a green card here in the US, is still a Chinese citizen. I spent a few years in China in the '80's and haven't been there since 1997, and am wondering if/how much things have changed.

In 1989, a couple friends of mine were arrested for sleeping together in a hotel room because they weren't married and she was Chinese. This was in one of the outlying provinces. They each had separate rooms, but ended up sleeping together in one of them. In the middle of the night the police came, opened the door with a hotel key, found them in bed together, and hauled them off to the police station. They each had to pay a fine and write a self criticism. In addition, the Public Security Bureau informed her family of the situation, even though she was from quite far away. Her family took the incident quite seriously and gave her the choice of either marrying her boyfriend or becoming a nun!

This is, however, much better than when I first went to China in 1983. Back then, a Chinese woman friend of mine in Beijing was "sent down" for a year and a half of reform through labor for having a foreign boyfriend. Her friends told me that this was a "good thing" as it would help to change her attitude.

I know these incidents are from the past,and hopefully do not happen in today's China.

I'd like to hear from anyone with direct experience or knowledge about the reaction of hotel staff when a foreigner and Chinese woman try to book a room together when they are not married and the woman has Chinese identity papers. Is this okay, or definitely not allowed? My friend's girlfriend may be able to find out if this is not permitted, but it'd be nice to hear ahead of time from people who have been in this situation.

Is it better to book separate rooms, or is this no longer an issue? I'd like to know about both major cities, as well as outlying areas in China.

Thanks!

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