【Watch Serve the People Online】

A man and Watch Serve the People Onlinehis 18-year-old son's story is going viral in China after they were featured with their rather unorthodox "family" -- seven silicone sex dolls that the two care for.

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58-year-old Li Chen (not his real name) and his son, Yangyang, live in Guizhou, southwest China.

According to the state-run Global Times, the unusual family started when Li brought home his first doll in 2010 after he divorced his wife for her gambling addiction.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Both father and son say they have never used the dolls for their advertised purpose, although Li said in a Pear Video interview that he bought Yangyang his own doll for his birthday recently "to help him with his needs."

In the video, Li says: "I'm willing to let him use the doll as a sex toy...I don't want him to look for some random woman to resolve his sexual needs."

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"Everything is created with a purpose and meaning," Yangyang says. "And my sister's (the doll Li gave him) purpose at birth is for me to take care of her."

Li has also amassed a following on Chinese internet forums for his elaborate photographs and music videos of the dolls in picturesque scenes:

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Each doll costs Li an estimated 10,000 yuan ($1,454), and each outfit for the dolls can cost up to 3,000 yuan ($436). Li estimates he's spent nearly 100,000 yuan ($14,545) so far.

Li's estranged wife is reportedly alarmed at the arrangement, says Yangyang.

"After my mum (read news reports), she called me and asked me not to pick up this habit from my dad," he says. "She said it was weird and perverted."

He adds: "The dolls have their flaws, humans also have flaws...The good thing about the dolls (is that) they will not betray you."

An earlier Global Timesreport said these dolls were gaining popularity in China among enthusiasts who use them as a way to fill an emotional void. Most doll lovers are men aged between 22 and 45 years of age, and apparently see their dolls as companions instead of sex toys.

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