Sex and the Internet …
Anyone who’s worried that people in China have no interest in sex – "or at least far less than their uninhibited counterparts in the West," as the Shanghai Daily News, puts it – can put their fears to rest.
And why would they reach acquire such concerns in the first place? They’d be basing them on, the "empty aisles in stores that sell sexual health products," says the newspaper.
Empty they may be, but it’s nothing to do with diminishing interest, says the the Shanghai Daily News here.
Rather, "The Internet is enabling millions in China to view or buy a variety of interesting sexual products that they would otherwise feel embarrassed to purchase in a street corner shop."
EachNet.com is China’s equivalent to ebay.com and it lists 6,747 kinds of sex toys, says the report, and, according to "industry insiders," the Shanghai-based auction Website has become China’s largest online sex health products market. EachNet declined to reveal the amount of revenue the site generates in sex products sales, but said its annual growth rate is over 50%.
However, "I think the Internet is a suitable platform to sell such products because Chinese people think it is a personal affair and they don’t like to purchase such things in public," said an unidentified official at EachNet.com Network Information Services Co Ltd.
In contrast, says the story, "For 45 minutes in yesterday afternoon, about 1,500 people walked past Shanghai Huaguang Sex Health Products Shop, located at the intersection of Shaanxi Road and Julu Road. Only one person entered the 20-square-meter shop, which displays 300 sex health products.
"The customer left empty-handed."
September 24th, 2004 at 5:31 pm