If China's economic development and globalization in the past two decades are impressive, the country's sexual revolution in the same period is also not at all lackluster.

　　From a society in which sex was closely associated with sin, obscenity, filth, adultery, scandal, disgrace, debauchery, degradation and corruption, people today have become probably too open about sex.

　　Sexually-related content gets the most clicks in cyberspace. Junk emails and short messages on cell phones contain a large proportion of "foxy" pictures and jokes.

　　Sex health shops are now scattered on street corners in most Chinese cities, even more noticeable than in many Western countries. And many sex toys are made in China, although they used to be for export only.

　　People no longer talk about sex on TV or in daily life with a sign of shame or embarrassment.

　　Newspapers rake in a lot of money by carrying adverts promoting potent drugs such as Viagra and many Chinese herbal medicines that help sexual lives.

　　Sex museums are also wooing visitors, boasting China's long history of enjoying human pleasures.

　　The number of sex workers has been growing after being wiped out by Mao Zedong in the 1950s. A number of cities and towns are well known for the oldest profession, a boon to the local economy.

　　In a study published by the sociology department of Beijing-based China Renmin University late last year, about 6.4 per cent of Chinese men aged over 40 admitted to visiting prostitutes. The figure was 11.3 per cent for men below 40 and 16.7 per cent for the agesgroupsof 25-29.

　　Premarital sex has also been on rising rapidly. About 36 per cent of married Chinese men and 19.4 per cent of married Chinese women aged 30-34 have had more than one sex partner, according to the survey.

　　The old man depicted by famed writer Lu Xun as fainting upon seeing a luscious, fair and slender woman's leg would certainly die of a heart attack today because this summer's fashion, as forecast, is that young women want to reveal more of their beautiful bodies.

　　Being sexy is a compliment now for many Chinese women instead of an insult, as it was two decades ago.

　　The quality of sexual life has also been deemed by many Chinese as an important part of their lives.

　　College students, who are always at the forefront of all the revolutions in China, have not missed this sex revolution, either (as analyzed by our reporters Yvonne Zhang, Lu Chang and Chen Yujin today on Page 4-7).

　　Cohabitation is no longer news on campus. Being a virgin is no longer something to be proud of among youth.

　　But many may have made too bold an experiment. In police raids, quite a number of college students have been found selling sex.

　　There might be some anarchism in this sexual revolution in Chinese society today, but a revolution is always likely to go a little too far and then correct itself after some rethinking.

　　Guidance and education are necessary, but there is absolutely no need for excessive worry and criticism, if you understand the sexual repression suffered by the Chinese 25 years ago.