World

Rain (AM and PM) 7° London Hi 9°C / Lo 7°C

China takes wrecking ball to erotic theme park

Associated Press

Visitors catching a glimpse of 'Love Land', billed as China's first-ever sex theme park, before its demolition

STR/AFP/Getty Images

Visitors catching a glimpse of 'Love Land', billed as China's first-ever sex theme park, before its demolition

This investment turned out to be as risky as it was risque.

A sex theme park that featured explicit exhibits of genitalia and sexual culture is being demolished before it can even open, a government spokesman in southwestern China said today.

The park, christened "Love Land" by its owners, went under the wrecking ball over the weekend in the city of Chongqing, said the spokesman, who like many Chinese bureaucrats would give only his surname, Yang.

Yang refused to give the reason for the demolition or other details. However, photographs of the adult-only park had circulated widely on the Internet over the weekend, prompting widespread mockery and condemnation.

Exhibits had included giant-sized reproductions of male and female anatomy, dissertations on how the topic of sex is treated in various cultures and what the official China Daily newspaper called "sex technique workshops."

The demolition highlights conflicted views on sex in modern China, where a prudish attitude toward discussion of sexuality is paired with an almost clinical approach to its physical aspects.

While pornography is banned and sex education largely unheard of, shops selling sex toys and related items stand out prominently in many neighborhoods and sex outside marriage is widely tolerated. Prostitution, while technically illegal, is widespread and the keeping of mistresses among prominent businessmen and Communist Party officials is considered commonplace.

Such attitudes are blamed in part for risky sex and ignorance about birth control among minors. With public discussion of sex so limited, there is relatively little awareness of sexual harassment and abuse and laws and regulations covering such matters are weaker in China than in many countries.

Newspapers last week carried prominent reports on a government official who was let off with a fine simply because he claimed he had not known that the 13-year-old girl he paid to have sex with was underage.

The man, Lu Yumin, a local tax bureau official in Sichuan province's Yibin county, was arrested on charges of child rape, but was convicted only of visiting a prostitute and fined 5,000 yuan ($730).

Post a Comment

View all comments that have been posted about this article.

Offensive or abusive comments will be removed and your IP logged and may be used to prevent further submission. In submitting a comment to the site, you agree to be bound by the Independent Minds Terms of Service.

Comments

The problem was they did not have enough balls...
[info]kuma2000 wrote:
Monday, 18 May 2009 at 08:02 am (UTC)
Of course something like this is going to be mocked but they should not take such offence as to demolish it. There is something very similar in Taiwan (if I remember correctly) which is a very popular honeymoon destination - from the pictures I saw it seemed to have been executed very well. I can remember thinking when I saw the pictures that something like that would not be possible in the UK as it would be met by such extreme indignation by the moral minority.
Re: The problem was they did not have enough balls...
[info]corporeal4now wrote:
Monday, 18 May 2009 at 11:39 am (UTC)

What makes you assume that the majority of the population are immoral?
Re: The problem was they did not have enough balls...
[info]kuma2000 wrote:
Monday, 18 May 2009 at 09:08 pm (UTC)
One has to be optimistic...
[info]iain39 wrote:
Monday, 18 May 2009 at 09:07 am (UTC)
It looks unbelievably tacky! I'm not surprised someone decided to knock it down.
[info]majorblimp wrote:
Monday, 18 May 2009 at 05:16 pm (UTC)
With Chinese construction methods it would have fallen down with the first knee tremble...
good
[info]vhawk1951 wrote:
Monday, 18 May 2009 at 12:30 pm (UTC)
there's quite enough titillation in this stupid world
sex in China
[info]bogbrush2 wrote:
Monday, 18 May 2009 at 01:36 pm (UTC)
And just when I thought this was the start of the Minge Dynasty.
China takes wrecking ball to erotic theme park
[info]famulla wrote:
Monday, 18 May 2009 at 05:21 pm (UTC)
If the Chinese take the ball then we are safe. If they take the chains then we will have Bruce Lee. Let them be balls or sex. Why try to stop the big population when they are doing this on their home ground. Complain if they come to UK and do this .
I thank you
Firozali A.Mulla
Down with debauchery!
[info]collin_brown wrote:
Monday, 18 May 2009 at 09:07 pm (UTC)
Debauchery: The excessive indulgence of lust, intemperance, sensuality and habitual lewdness.
Re: Down with debauchery!
[info]kuma2000 wrote:
Monday, 18 May 2009 at 09:10 pm (UTC)
Don't knock it til you've tried it!
Re: Down with debauchery!
[info]collin_brown wrote:
Monday, 18 May 2009 at 09:29 pm (UTC)
I've tried it. That's why I'm knocking it.

Article Archive

Day In a Page

Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat

Select date