There is a saying that time is so precious that even gold couldn't be exchanged for it. But a 26-year-old girl named Chen Xiao in Beijing is willing to sell her time at different prices through taobao.com, a popular e-commerce internet portal in China, the Beijing Evening News reports.
有句老话说“千金难买寸光阴”，但一个来自北京的名叫陈潇的26岁女孩却在淘宝上做起了出卖自己时间的生意。

By inputting 'Chen Xiao's online store of remaining life' on taobao.com, potential customers are greeted with impressive shots of beautiful Chen Xiao. Beneath the photos are price tags covering the range of prices: eight minutes, one hour and one day with the prices of 8 yuan, 20 yuan and 100 yuan respectively.
在淘宝上搜索“陈潇的剩余人生店”，就能看到陈潇一张张漂亮的照片。在照片下面是根据时间长短定下的价格：8分钟卖8元，一小时卖20元，一天卖100元。

The advertisement on the online store features a promise from Chen Xiao telling buyers that she will serve any purpose except for those involving crime, violence or pornography.
陈潇在店铺广告中写到，可以帮助买家达成任何愿望，犯罪、暴力、色情除外。

Though it only opened two months ago, the online store has attracted many customers, who battled at auction to win her time and assigned various tasks to her, such as attending friends' birthday parties, offering coffee to clients, buying railway tickets and so on.
尽管开店只有两个月，陈潇的店铺却吸引了很多顾客，他们竞相拍下陈潇的时间，要她去完成不同的任务。有的叫她帮朋友过生日，有的叫她给客人倒咖啡，有的叫她去买火车票，等等。

Up to now, more than 100 people have bought her time, generating a net income of 3,000 yuan for her.
至今为止，已有100多人购买过陈潇的时间，她因此获得3000元的收入。

On the recent Valentine's Day, a gentleman spent 500 yuan buying her time for a whole day. She was later asked to come up with an innovative design idea for a gift and deliver it to his girlfriend on February 14th.
在刚刚过去的情人节里，一名男子花500元购买了她的一整天，请她帮忙出谋划策，为他的女朋友挑选一个有新意的情人节礼物。

A mother buyer wanted Chen Xiao to call in on her young daughter disguised as a panda, and encourage her to study harder, after becoming concerned by her failure of an exam.
一名母亲买下陈潇的时间，要她扮成熊猫打电话安慰考试失利的女儿。

Currently, there are around 30 online stores similar to Chen Xiao's. The owners come from across the country and even the U.S. and Australia, most of whom say they have learnt of Chen Xiao's idea and decided to use it to increase the popularity of their own online stores.
近来网上出现了30名类似的卖家。他们来自中国各地甚至美国、澳大利亚，大多数称听说了陈潇的创意，想用在自己的店铺上。

Chen Xiao's move has triggered controversy among netizens.
陈潇的行为引起了网友的热议。

A netizen called 'xiao han' said that life belonged to oneself, so a person would become lost by putting it up for sale. Another netizen disagreed, saying this was a sort of creative industry and was merely a different type of start-up for the young.
网友笑寒评价说，人生是自己的，用来出售只能迷失自我。也有人反驳称这属于创意产业的一种，是年轻人创业的新思路。

A marketing teacher with University of International Business and Economy said by selling time as a stunt, Chen Xiao had actually stirred up the public's curiosity and then provided them with any services within her ability.
对外经济贸易大学市场营销学的一位老师分析说，出售时间只是噱头，陈潇实际上是在调动了网民的好奇心之后，然后提供各种力所能及的服务。

Xia Xueluan, a sociology professor with Peking University, said in the shrinking job market, Chen Xiao's act deserved promotion. He added that Chen Xiao took the advantage of the low-cost internet to start her own service business.
北京大学社会学教授夏学銮认为，在目前严峻的就业形势下，陈潇的这种做法是值得学习和借鉴的。他觉得陈潇实际也是在做一种服务性的工作，只不过是借助了网络这个平台。