The fourth China International Adult Toys and Reproductive Health Exhibition,
Asia's largest adult show, opened last week at the Shanghai International
Exhibition Center in Changning District.
In addition to lingerie and adult toy displays, the three-day event also
features lectures by international sexologists on sex history and healthcare.
"Rather than the show itself, which has been very common in France, I am
curious to know how Chinese people will react to such exhibition," Jerome
Freyheit, 31, a Frenchman who works in the IT department at a stock-exchange
company in Shanghai.
"Shanghai is an international city, so the residents may have more contact with
foreigners and more often hear about new opinions. But I guess most of people
won't go there because it's not part of their habits to mention sex openly."
Chinese people keep their sexual desires bottled.
"Chinese people are known to be outwardly shy when it comes to sex," said Percy
Hu, 34, a human resources manager at a Shanghai-based hotel.
"They seldom appear coquettish outside."
The exhibition also featured ancient sexual relics including archaic ceramic
models, a 9,000-year-old China Goddess statue and other collections never
before displayed by China's Ancient Chinese Sex Culture Museum, according to
its executive curator Hu Hongxia.
And there was displays of the slightly more avant-garde nature, including S&M
displays.
Sexologists from the US, Hong Kong and the mainland were on site to offer
guidance on sexual health and discuss many different sex topics.
"Sex is a part of being human and good sex is part of a quality life," Liu
Dalin, a renowned sex expert and founder of China's first sex museum in East
China's Jiangsu Province, said.
"We want to guide the public to an appropriate and healthy attitude toward sex
through the show."
It seems that Shanghai people are not shy when it comes to sex. Statistics
released recently by China's sex products sales network revealed that Shanghai
ranks are the third biggest consumers sex products, following Beijing and
Guangdong.
