Pink-Light District is English-language nomenclature referring to brothels fronting as hair salons in China. The term derives from Red-Light District but is specific to the P.R.C., as Chinese brothels are identifiable nationwide by the transparent-pink film that typically covers
hair salon sliding
glass doors. Such hair salons usually operate in small clusters, hence forming a "district." The term "Pink Light District" is a
neologism directly attributable to, and first seen in print in, the book CHINA: Portrait of a People (Tom Carter, 2008), which features in part a series of revelational photographs of various pink-light districts across China, the first published book ever to do so. The term is not, however, commonly used by the Chinese themselves.