However, the Shanghai attraction will not be unique for long, as a branch of the sex museum is now under construction in Hangzhou, expected to open early next year.

"Since our monthly house rent has been lowered a considerable amount from 52,000 yuan (US$6,280) after our negotiation with the owner, we can just about keep balance with our expenses and expenditure, so that the museum will continue to be open to the public," said Hu Hongxia, general manager of the museum, who is a doctor of medicine.

The museum has collected about 1,700 articles related to sex culture -- including ancient sexual tools, pictures and sculptures -- from across the country and some foreign countries, with 1,100 of them on display. The other 600 articles will be sent to Hangzhou.

Seventy-year-old Professor Liu Dalin, who owns the museum, spent the majority of his life collecting the sexual exhibits. He opened the museum initially in downtown Nanjing Road in 1999.

However, he had to move premises in April this year, as a new law prohibited "sex" signs from appearing along the road.

With a 30 yuan (US$3.60) admission fee, approximately 50,000 people have visited the museum since its opening.

"Half of them were foreigners, and they were astonished to find that China has such a high-valued culture of sex," Hu said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 11, 2001)