SHANGHAI: “My shepherd,” said the man, striking a match in the dark. “Do you see me now?”The 26-year-old performer, who only wants to be known as Xiaobai, is playing Qiang Qingci - a fictional psychiatrist who erased himself from the memory of the woman he loved to keep her safe.The woman across from him is not really Cheng Yuhuai, the war correspondent he loves in the story.She is a paying customer.
And she is crying too hard to answer.“I see you,” she finally says.
Chi Peiyao plays Cheng Yuhuai opposite a performer in the role of Qiang Qingci, the psychiatrist at the centre of the popular romance script Liumang Xushi. (Photo: Chi Peiyao)
The lovelorn scene is part of a romance role-playing game in China known as lianpei or “love companion”, a genre which has surged in popularity especially among young Chinese women.Adapted from traditional murder mystery games, players pay to act out scripted storylines with professional performers - taking on roles like childhood sweethearts, devoted partners or tragic lovers.They often run for hours and can cost hundreds of yuan. Customers are mostly young women, players and performers said. At one Changzhou venue, they account for about 80 per cent of participants, a staff member told CNA.
