By Wang Ru (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-17 10:44

When he figured out what the shop really was, the enterprising young man thought: "Why don't I open a 'sex shop' in China?"

When he discussed this bold idea with his friends and relatives, they thought he was crazy. "No one has opened such a shop in China. It was totally risky, both commercially and culturally," says Wen.

"It was forbidden ground."

In the early 1990s, condoms were distributed through the Family Planning Committee, a governmental agency ensuring the implementation of the national one-child policy.

Sex was a sensitive topic in the conservative society. Classic novels such as Jin Ping Mei - a 16th-century work that contains much description of sexual life between Ximen Qing and his three concubines - were strictly banned. Daring young men and women who walked in pairs on the street would solicit angry stares.

To open a "sex shop" was a very challenging idea.

However, Wen believed he had foreseen a potential business. "Sex is a normal thing, just like when you feel thirsty, you drink water. Why should we shy away from our basic needs?"

But, opening a sex shop was no easy feat. Wen couldn't even find his business a foothold - landlords all thought Wen was a "hooligan" when they learnt his purpose.

Staffing was also an issue. The first employees were medical students, who had graduated from remote places outside Beijing, so their parents wouldn't know what they were doing. The first female staff member had to fight her fianc in order to work for Wen.

But, luckily, Wen was not the only person who believed the public should have a rational attitude toward sex.

In 1992, under great pressure from his colleagues, Du Ruyu, dean of the Peking University People's Hospital, decided to lend a room to Wen near the gate of the hospital.

   1 2 3 4   

   1 2 3 4