Tourists passing through the streets of Taiwan may notice an unusual cultural phenomenon. It looks like a scene from Amsterdam’s Red Light district, with scantily-clad girls soliciting customers from neon-lit boxes. Tourists might assume these ladies are sex workers, but, here on the hazy streets of Taoyan, a city an hour outside of Taipei, the girls aren’t selling sex. They’re selling betel nut.
Consumed throughout South East Asia, betel nut, from the fruit of the betel nut palm, is a mild stimulant similar to tobacco. Chewing it is a ceremonial tradition, and a habit associated with Taiwanese identity and masculinity. It’s common to see its byproducts: Red stained teeth and sidewalks covered in gobs of scarlet spit.
Today, many users are long-distance truck drivers looking for a quick pick-me-up. Though a known carcinogen, the highly demanded product is sold along freeway on-ramps.
To make the product more desirable to consumers, vendors employ young, attractive women known as Binlan Xi Shi or Betel Nut Beauties.
They stand in provocative outfits at roadside booths, selling bags of betel nut to commuters. There are an estimated 60,000 booths, with thousands of girls working in the industry. They are typically 18- to 25-years-old, making $30,000 to $40,000 Taiwanese new dollars per month (about $1,100 to $1,500).
With kiosks concentrated in the Taoyan area, the competition is fierce. The girls are paid based on their number of clients, so there is a financial incentive to dress erotically to attract customers. Costumed in pink lace teddies and leopard print lingerie, many of the girls wear more blue eyeshadow than fabric.
In this relatively conservative country, Betel Nut Beauties have become a controversial topic. Locals argue that their outfits are too sexy, it exploits women and is “a plight on the Taiwanese landscape.” Others chalk it up to marketing, likening the beauties to cigarette girls of the 1930s.
Ching Jie Lee, a 22-year-old Betel Nut Beauty, doesn’t understand why there’s such stigma surrounding her line of work. “We are not prostitutes. It’s a normal job, like anything else,” she says. “I chose this job and my family is proud of me … as long as I don’t wear anything too short.”
Julia Dimon is co-host of Word Travels, airing Sundays at 8:30 p.m. EST on OLN; juliadimon.com.
