Over the weekend, photos of the theme park being constructed in Chongqing circulated on websites around the world, prompting an emergency inspection by local officials, according to the Daily Mail. The park featured a photo exhibition on the history of sex, and statues of giant penises and the lower half of a woman wearing a thong. Last week the park's manager, Lu Xiaoqing, said when the park opened in October it would offer workshops to help visitors improve their sexual technique and information on safe sex.

"Sex is a taboo subject in China but people really need to have more access to information about it," said Xiaoqing, "We are building the park for the good of the public. I have found that the majority of people support my idea, but I have to pay attention and not make the park look vulgar and nasty."

But after touring the park this weekend, municipal officials released a statement saying it was, "vulgar and that it was neither healthy nor educational. It had had an evil influence on society and had to be torn down immediately." Officials added that the owners of Love Land were "interested only in profiting from sensationalism,"The Guardian reports.

A demolition team quickly took a wrecking ball to the park, toppling a revolving statue of a woman's legs that stood in front of the park. The swift destruction of the site highlights conflicted view of sex in China (and pretty much everywhere else!), which Daily Mail describes as "a prudish attitude toward the discussion of sexuality paired with an almost clinical approach to its physical aspects." While pornography is banned and there is little sex education, many shops openly sell sex toys and sex outside of marriage is tolerated. Prostitution is illegal, but it's common for businessmen to keep mistresses.

There also isn't much awareness of sexual harassment and laws on sexual abuse are weaker in China than in many other parts of the world. Aside from Love Land, the second most widely reported sex-related story out of China last week was about a government official who paid to have sex with a 13-year-old girl, but was let off with a conviction for visiting a prostitute and a fine because he claimed he didn't know how old the girl was.

China's First Sex Theme Park Closes Before It Opens [Daily Mail]
China's First Sex Theme Park Closes Before It Opens [The Guardian]

Earlier: Sex Theme Park Has Chinese Hot And Bothered

"These things are too exposed. I will feel uncomfortable looking at them when other people are around," says Liu Daiwei, a female police officer. She's most likely talking about the "giant revolving model of a woman's legs and lower torso, clad only in an unflattering crimson thong," which marks the sign, Love Land. According to the Guardian, a commenter on the popular Sina website said Chinese people did not treat sex as boldly as foreigners, adding: "These vulgar sex installations will only make people sick."


The park's manager, Lu Xiaoqing, tells Reuters that Love Land will help people "enjoy a harmonious sex life." He's happy that people are talking about the park, because that means they're talking about sex:

"It is quite normal to see so much discussion about it," he said. "I have found that the majority of people support my idea but I have to pay attention and not make the park look vulgar and nasty."

And he's not the only one who thinks that the Chinese could truly benefit from being more informed about sex. Li Yinhe, an expert on sexual attitudes, tells the Guardian: "I read a report saying in the west about 90% of women have experienced orgasm, but in China the number is only 28%."

But is a theme park the best way to insure women are being satisfied? Having seen pictures from the original Love Land, in South Korea — basically, sculptures of people engaging in intercourse — the idea seems a little… limp.

China To Open First Sex Theme Park [Guardian]
Adult Theme Park Gets Chinese Talking About Sex [Reuters]
Related: The 9 Most Baffling Theme Parks From Around the World [Fine Lifestyles]