Chinese women are lining up to test a new medicine that aims to help them achieve orgasm, in another example of the more open attitudes to sex being adopted in a traditionally conservative country.

More than 200 female volunteers had registered by the end of August for clinical testing by the Beijing University No.1 Hospital of the "female viagra" drug, reported China Radio International on Monday.

Organisers and doctors are apparently surprised by the number.

Now, seeing no problem to recruit 400 volunteers considering the increasing popularity of the test, organizers realize that more independent and outspoken Chinese women are paying attention to the quality of their sex life, a long-time taboo in Chinese society.

All test-takers will report their experiences with the medicine in at least four face-to-face interviews with doctors and researchers. The women will give a final evaluation after the two-month trial.

Volunteers range from women in their early 20s to a 63-year-old housewife -- but most are middle-aged career women.

After generations of silence on a subject considered taboo until recently, China is increasingly adopting a more open attitude towards sex.

Recently, China's Institute of Sexology and the Chinese Medical Association launched the country's first-ever nationwide survey on female sexual experiences.

(Xinhua News Agency  September 7, 2004)