An area in Taiwan that has come under battering by the COVID-19 virus is said to be a red-light district operating underneath the veneer of teahouse businesses.

In the past four days, Wanhua district in the capital city Taipei has reported more than 370 cases of infection related to the “teahouses,” which are understood to be adult entertainment venues.

These businesses have an alternative name, “grandpa shops,” because of their targeted clientele of men in the neighborhood who are middle-aged or above.

Wanhua is the oldest district in Taipei, covering about 8.8 square kilometers (2,170 acres), slightly smaller than Sham Shui Po in Hong Kong. The teahouses are clustered around Guangzhou Street, Xichang Street, Huaxi Street, Xiyuan Road and Heping West Road.

The shops have licenses to operate food and beverage services but not to sell alcohol, for which they will need to register as a bar and obtain a liquor license.

In reality, customers could sing, drink and chat with the hostesses by paying NT$600 to NT$700 (US$21 to US$25), a Hongkonger who migrated to Taiwan four years ago told Apple Daily.

Sexual services were also available, according to him. In the past, the hostesses were mostly older Taiwanese and mainland Chinese women, but after Tsai Ing-wen took office as president and relaxed rules to allow more tourists from Southeast Asian countries, young women had been smuggled in from Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, he said, describing the makeup of Wanhua as being akin to “a United Nations.”

The number of grandpa shops used to top 700, Liberty Times reported, citing Taipei City Council member Wang Shih-cheng as saying. Local authorities recently released data showing 172 parlors were registered with licenses, but Wang believed the actual number in operation was around 300.

These parlors employed older women to cover up their real activities as vice dens, Wang said.

Police would investigate the teahouses regularly and mete out punishment if they found hostesses selling alcohol on the premises, Taipei City Office of Commerce director Kao Chen-yuan said.

However, the hostesses would claim that they were friends of the customers, making it difficult for the police to collect evidence, he said.

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