Betel nut beauties are scantly clad women who dispense a stimulating plant based product in Taiwan. Betel or areca nut has been chewed in Southeast Asia for thousands of years. Today its use is a bit more limited.
Still used by traditional people in the hinterlands of India, Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia, the nut remains popular in Myanmar and Taiwan. In the Republic of China the sexy sellers probably have at least something to do with that.
The betel nut vendors are well known locally. Yet they only pop up in international news stories once every few years. Seeing a report on these sexy ladies many years ago was one of the main things that inspired me to create Rockit Reports. The others were blowjob bars, Korean kiss bangs and Chinese massage parlors.
The commercial sex industry stretches around the world. Yet when I started reporting over ten years ago there was not much written information it. Especially not the various local incarnations that take on various forms. These days you can see 10 second clips about Patpong ping pong shows on Tik Tok. Yet I am still writing. It follows that I should finally report on the betel nut babes that originally sparked my imagination.
Betel nut beauties
I first encountered beautiful betel nut vendors of Taiwan back in the 1990’s. At the time I knew next to nothing about the women. Apparently that was true for most of the world. The sellers sprung up towards the end of the 20th century. Starting out in more typical dresses and skirts the ladies soon started striping down to win more customers from the competition.
By the 2000’s it was possible to find fit Taiwanese women in lingerie or bikinis standing in flashy kiosks around the island. Truckers, taxi drivers and other men would pull over and purchase a wad of what the locals call bing lang. The sellers darted in and out of their little booths to make the roadside sales. It was akin to watching drug deals in a western country. Except this was all open and legal. Plus the pushers looked a hell of a lot better!
The betel nut beauties are for the most part pretty women from lower class families. Rather than work in the service industry as waitresses or maids, they instead peddle betel nut in sexy clothes. This allows them to make a lot more income than even some college graduates. It’s hardly confusing why a rural gal from a poorer family would take on the job!
Of course some were not as amused by the sight of Taiwanese women in teddies on the side of the road. Three main forces have come out against the betel nut beauties over the years: conservatives, Dworkinites and health advocates.
Where to find betel nut babes in Taiwan
Unsurprisingly many Taiwanese conservatives claim the mere presence of women in sexy clothing degrades society. Like their counterparts in the Taliban they believe its much more moral for woman to stay hidden barefoot in kitchens. Of course what these moral crusaders get up to in private is anybody’s guess.
A frighteningly similar argument comes from some who claim to be women’s rights advocates. The other arm of the anti-sex contingent claim that the lack of formal attire somehow degrades the sellers themselves. Although they would say that women are equal to men they apparently feel ladies are unable to make decisions as consenting adults.
Finally there are the health advocates who rightly point out that betel nut is addictive and causes cancer. This is the most serious argument against betel nut selling. Yet questions of free will and consent come up again. Are adults able to decide whether or not they want to chew betel?
How about cigarettes or alcohol which both remain totally legal in Taiwan? Some twenty percent of adults in Taiwan smoke. Even more drink. The presence of attractive beer promotional girls in tight dresses could have something to do with this. Won’t someone please think of the children?
After many years of bickering the results are that the binglang xiaojies have been banned from the city of Taipei. But these betel nut babes can still be found across the rest of Formosa. Indeed they are downright common in places like Dayuan and Taoyuan. Like the sexy coffee sellers of the Western United States and their counterparts in the world’s oldest profession these gals are remarkably resilient.
To be clear the betel nut beauties don’t sell anything more than the betel nut itself. Unless of course you count the glimpses of skin the buyers catch. From what I hear a guy may have occasionally grabbed a grope or quick kiss in the heyday of betel nut beauties. Or they would get a flash for a few New Taiwan Dollars. Even then it only happened in certain places and at particular times. These days the betel nut sellers are a little less common and slightly more covered up. But they have not disappeared.
