A shopping mall has introduced a novel way of keeping despairing husbands entertained while their wives go shopping.
The Global Harbour mall in Shanghai has installed four glass pods where bored spouses can go and play retro 1990s computer games on comfy leather seats. The service is currently free for customers to use while they are being trialled, but this will change if they remain a permanent fixture in the mall.
Each individual "husband rest cabin" has a chair, monitor, computer and gamepad. Billboards in the shopping centre have been advertising the pods over the past month, and they have so far proved popular with husbands keen to stay in one place while their wives shop.
One shopper, Mr Wu, said that the first time he saw the husband rest cabin, he thought the idea was great. "I do not like to accompany my girlfriend shopping, so whenever we go out shopping I will look for a movie to see or find a place to eat and sit," he said.
"Sometimes when my girlfriend is shopping I play on my mobile phone, but now the mall has a machine, I can let my girlfriend feel at ease shopping."
But Mr Wu said that the lack of air-conditioning made the experience poor - a sentiment echoed by other men who trialled the pods.
The attitude of the female shoppers to the cabins is mixed.
Some women were concerned that they could be left waiting around for their husbands to finish playing a game, while others said that the devices meant they could shop guilt-free.
A shopping mall has introduced a novel way of keeping despairing husbands entertained while their wives go shopping.
