Restrictions ease

    A drastic change has taken place in terms of social tolerance regarding pre-marital sex.

    A survey conducted in 1997 indicated that 40 per cent of couples didn't even hug or kiss their future spouses before their marriages.

    "With widespread sexual knowledge and up-to-date information about birth control, the sexual restrictions and taboos long imposed on Chinese are loosening," Xu said.

    Nowadays, men and women can easily book a room at a hotel or inn to have sex which was unimaginable in the past when a marriage certificate had to be shown before a couple could stay in one room. Couples who had forgotten to bring along their marriage certificates, they had to check into two rooms.

    Although the relevant stipulation has never been lifted, people can easily get around it today. One can first order a room and the other can come in as the visitor.

    "In the past the hotel or the inn would send staff to ask the visitor to leave after 11:00pm," said Lu Ning, manager of a local hotel.

    As for the purchase of condoms, vending machines are now even found on campus.

    "Yet during 1980s when I was young, very few places sold condoms," said Xu Longyun, a local woman in her 50s.

    "The work unit gave condoms to those who already had one baby as a part of the family planning campaign. Drug stores set up special counters to give away condoms but most people were too shy to get close to that counter."

    Nowadays people renting apartments to live on their own are much more common, which also provides convenience for those university students who want to co-habit with their lovers.

    Mei Shudong, who graduated from university in 1989, said there was little possibility for students to rent apartment outside during his student years.

    But now with more and more universities intent on expanding their enrollments, the role of the dormitory has become somewhat limited.

    "Aided to the increasing openness towards sex, the procedures for those who want to move out of a dormitory are quite easy so long as you can offer a parent's consent in writing and that can be easily obtained from parents by saying that you want to concentrate more attention on study," said Luo Mingqiong, a graduate student.

    The era when those who had sex before marriage could face severe punishment, including being locked in a bamboo cage and sunk into a river are gone.

    Chinese people are marching towards sexual freedom rapidly. According to Li Yinhe, a well-known sociologist, the Chinese people will match the West in terms of sexual attitudes in no more than 20 years.

    Social problems

    "In this country, as people come to know their legal rights more clearly, it will be impossible for the government to repress sex in the way it has before," Xu said.

    "More attention should be given to teaching the youth practical sexual and reproductive knowledge."

    Most schools in China still lack such education, some worrying that after the students learn about sex they will be more likely to try it out.

    Xu said that as society becomes more and more open in sexual matters, a lack of relevant education on the subject will result in certain social problems, such as an increase in the number of single mothers, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and the forming of an unhealthy philosophy of love. Enditem

    (Shanghai Star/China Daily)