德国妓院为骑车顾客打折 应对危机
Part of Berlin's red-light scene is going green. One bordello, hoping to stave off falling demand in the economic crisis, has begun offering discounts to customers who pedal bicycles to the door.
"It's very difficult to find parking around here, and this option is better for our environment," said Thomas Goetz, who owns the brothel Maison d'Envie, or House of Desire.
Local residents in Prenzlauer Berg — a part of former East Berlin now home to scores of trendy boutiques, restaurants and clubs — had staunchly supported the Green party in recent elections and have welcomed the bordello's offer to emphasize the environment.
The bordellos in the capital of Germany, where prostitution is legal, have seen business suffer with the global financial crisis. Patrons have become more frugal, and there are fewer potential customers coming to the city for business trips and conferences.
But Maison d'Envie has seen its business begin to return since it began offering the euro5 ($7.50) discount in July, Goetz said.
To qualify, customers must show the receptionist either a bicycle padlock key or proof they used public transit to get to the neighborhood. That knocks the price for 45 minutes in a room, for example, to euro65 from euro70.
Those who arrive on foot, however, are out of luck.
"We haven't found a way for people to prove they have walked here," Goetz explained.
Other brothels have tried different incentives to cope with the economic downturn. One Berlin bordello offered a flat-rate for an unlimited time before officials' concerns over prostitutes' rights and cleanliness in the club forced them to rescind the offer.
The 450,000 prostitutes working in Germany, some 10,000 of whom are in Berlin, have the same legal rights and social benefits as people in other professions.
德国的部分“红灯区”正在“变绿”。有一家妓院开始向骑车前来的顾客提供打折优惠，以期避免因经济危机而引发生意萧条。
这家妓院名为“欲望之屋”，老板托马斯•戈茨说：“这附近很难找到停车位，而且骑车也更加环保。”
普伦茨劳贝格当地居民在最近的德国大选中力挺绿党（译者注：以保护人类生存环境为宗旨的政党），他们对妓院的此项环保之举表示欢迎。普伦茨劳贝格区曾是东柏林的一部分，如今是众多流行服饰店、餐馆和俱乐部的聚集地。
德国首都柏林的妓院受到全球金融危机的影响，顾客们变得更加节约，来该市进行商务旅行和参加会议的潜在顾客也随之减少。在德国，性服务业是合法行业。
戈茨称，自7月份推出5欧元（约合7.5美元）折扣的促销活动以来，“欲望之屋”的生意开始恢复。
若要获得优惠，顾客需向接待人员出示自行车钥匙或乘坐公共交通工具前往此区的票据凭证。推出这项优惠活动后，之前45分钟70欧元的服务降到了65欧元。
但那些步行而来的顾客就没这么幸运了。
戈茨解释说：“我们还没找到能证明顾客步行来到这里的办法。”
其它妓院也采取了各种优惠手段应对经济危机。此前柏林一家妓院推出了一项不限时享受性服务的促销活动，但之后由于政府担心妓女的权益和健康受损，该活动被叫停。
德国共有45万名性从业者，其中约一万名在柏林从事服务。这些性从业者与其它行业的人享有同等的法定权利和社会福利。
Vocabulary:
red-light scene:红灯区
bordello：A house of prostitution（妓院）
stave off：to prevent in time; forestall（避开，延迟）
boutique：a small shop or a small specialty department within a larger store, esp. one that sells fashionable clothes and accessories or a special selection of other merchandise（专卖流行衣服的小商店）
padlock:挂锁
out of luck: unlucky; unfortunate（运气不好）
flat-rate：统一费用
rescind:to officially state that a law, contract, decision, etc. is no longer valid （废除；取消）
