Youngsters lead a boom in sex products

(Xinhua)

09:25, October 08, 2011

Shanghai--Zhao Chunpeng could not wait to open his tightly wrapped parcel and check out the Constellation condoms he ordered online three days ago.

"My girlfriend and I are always willing to try new things and these sound very creative," the 26-year-old said. "I am sure she will like the Aries condoms."

The Constellation range includes 12 kinds of condom, differing in color, shape and thickness, and designed on the theme of the 12 constellations featured in Western astrology.

Designers have added fashionable elements to condoms and other products to satisfy the changing demands of China's young people, according to Wu Hao, a designer with Guilin Latex Factory, a Chinese condom producer.

He said: "Many young people use these items not only for contraception and disease prevention but to improve their sex lives."

The Constellation condoms, as well as many other products, attracted numerous visitors during a sex and reproductive health exhibition held in Beijing last month.

"It is a perfect idea to combine quality with creativity in a product," said Li Jiwei, an exhibition visitor. "I am very interested in such novelties, but it also could be commercial gimmick." He said he would buy the product "if the quality is as good as its creativity."

Zhao is one of many young Chinese who have developed a preference for buying sex products online. "I am embarrassed to go to a store to buy condoms, but online shopping makes it much easier," he said.

A number of online shops have sprung up recently, selling every kind of sex product imaginable. 

Xmybox, an online sex toy retailer, imports products from abroad and resells them to domestic consumers at prices ranging from 100 yuan (US$15.60) to 1,000 yuan.

Sun Dong, Xmybox's chief designer, said: "Compared with domestic products, imported sex toys are more fashionable in design and are thus more popular among young people.

"Many conservative Chinese believe sex toys are pornographic and obscene, but more and more young people have started using them to make their sex lives better."

Male consumers account for 70 percent of Xmybox sales, he said, but the number of female buyers is growing.

Li Yinhe, a sociologist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said after three decades of economic and social reform, people have become more open about sex.

"Young people have begun consuming sex products in order to enjoy better sex lives, as they have realized it is not shameful, but a natural and healthy way of life to have sex," Li said.

Sex culture festivals and trade fairs showcasing the latest sex products and promoting new concepts are held annually in China, not only in the progressive coastal cities of Shanghai and Guangzhou, but also in relatively conservative inland cities such as Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province.

Booming domestic demand for sex products has attracted entrepreneurs who wish to claim their share of the market. "It is a lucrative business, with the top five online shops in China reaping 1.2 million yuan to 1.5 million yuan each month," said Sun. 

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