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You haven’t truly “done Shanghai” until you’ve watched a frail 80-something-year-old Chinese man lean on his cane and inspect the brown-skinned selection of CyberHUSTLERs — a “throbbing, vibrating Cyberskin vagina and anus” — at the China International Adult Toys and Reproductive Health Exhibition at the Shanghai International Exhibition Center in Hongqiao. Because it felt like something that had to be done, I headed to the Sex Expo on Sunday, the final day of its three-day run in Shanghai. The convention was starting to wind down, and some booths had already been vacated, but I still had enough time to peruse what I assume to be the usual assortment of rubber body parts, pills, lingerie, whips, chains and frightening inflatable females. And really, once you’ve seen one She Shell Mini Clit Climaxer, Vibrating Anal Probe or Cock Cage with a Tickler Top, you’ve seen them all.
As expected, there were plenty of amusing signs and packages, like the naughty candy maker promoting its “forever lickable forms, the peckers and the nipples” and the woman on the cover of a Vibrating Vagina box who pleads, “Intromit me!!!”
But, far and away, the most intriguing booth at the Sex Expo was occupied by Fu Erqiang, the brains behind the Friendship Intelligent Electrical Appliance Factory in Fushun, Liaoning Province. Fu, who also works for the local government, has dreamed up a freakshow of devices, including the Sexual Love Chair, the Sexual Love Magic Ball and the Passionate Knight, Fu’s top seller (likely because it is the only one that looks like it might be designed to induce pleasure instead of pain). When I showed this video of the “Magic Ball” in action to a Chinese friend, she said it looked like a “crazy rabbit.” More like a crazy rabbit with a rubber penis shooting out of its head. (The video, by the way, has been viewed 599 times in its first 33 hours online.)
With the help of Luis and, later, Zat, I interviewed Mr. Fu for Shanghaiist. Gridskipper calls the result “priceless.” Go see for yourself.
And finally, this may surprise some of you. China — a country where “sex ignoramus outnumbers illiterate” — is the world’s number one purchaser of “sex aids.” The China Sex Health Commission says sales of sex products in China exceeded 100 billion yuan in 2003. Now, a population of 1.3 billion has much to do with that, but the figure is expected to grow by 30 percent annually. That means next year’s Sex Expo should be even better!
Related:
Interview with Fu Erqiang, manufacturer of sex toys
Video of the “Sexual Love Magic Ball”
My photos from the Sex Expo (viewer discretion is advised)
Shanghai blogger Derek’s take on the “Sexpo”
08.03.2005, 7:25 PM · Observations, Photos, Video