Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Chinese Men Look for Lesbians, Break Internet | Slog | The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper:

What happens when a Chinese news agency invents a story about a secret city of 25,000 lesbians in northern Sweden? Two things.

1. Millions and millions of Chinese men swamp Sweden's ISPs, slowing the whole country's Internet service to a crawl.

2. Someone buys the domain chakopaul.com (Chako Paul was the made-up name of the made-up girl-on-girl metropolis), puts a crappy site up, and sells t-shirts for $30.

The original Chinese article, as dug up by Shanghaiist.

In Sweden, there is a place that is respectful of women’s love, but with a rule that men cannot enter. This is Chako Paul City. The town holds around 25,000 women, all from around Europe. If men transgress into the forbidden city, they will be beaten half to death. The citizens of Chako Paul are mostly engaged in the forest industry, because of such many of the women wear thick belts full of woodworking equipment. Some go into nearby cities to work and return to Chako Paul by night. Chako Paul’s tourism industry is increasingly prosperous, with hotels and restaurants everywhere that cater specifically to women around the world.