Young single people in Shanghai are becoming increasingly open to pre-marital sex and accept the idea of living together before getting hitched, but confusingly they also think that it is important to marry a virgin, according to a recent survey on sexual attitudes.

The Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences surveyed 500 single men and women between 20 and 30 years old living in 25 neighborhoods.

Researchers conducted the survey by sending out questionnaires and holding group discussions with students, blue- and white-collar workers and the unemployed.

Nearly 41 percent of those surveyed were under the age of 22 and respondents were an almost equal mix of men and women.

"Through the survey, we can predict that sexual behavior before marriage and cohabitation among local youth will increase as their sexual attitudes become more open," said leading researcher Xu Anqi.

"But growing up in a traditional Chinese ethic culture that stresses virginity, local young people still resist Western ideas of sexual freedom and pleasure-seeking," added Xu in trying to explain some of the survey's contradictions.

According to the survey, half of the interviewees think it is understandable for engaged couples or people in love to hit the sheets before tying the knot.

Three-fourths of respondents said there are advantages to living together in a trial marriage before officially joining in wedlock.

Nearly 70 percent said it can help them learn more about the personality of their partner and more than half said they can take care of each other by living together.

Many respondents also noted it is easier to break off a trial marriage if problems arise than it is to get divorced.

"I don't want to get married in a hurry. I can only learn enough about a girl after I live with her for a period," said Andy Shen, a 26-year-old joint-venture employee.

While attitudes are becoming more open, virginity is still seen as an important virtue.

Nearly 60 percent said that virginity is one of the requirements for their ideal spouse - with both men and women saying they want to marry a virgin. Only 16.5 percent said they don't care about their partner's virginity.

Those numbers are surprising considering 30 percent of those surveyed said they are no longer virgins. About 19 percent of university students said they are sexually active.

"That indicates sexual behavior before marriage is increasing as the rate of activity among university students in the past was just around 10 percent," Xu said.

A survey earlier this year by British condom maker Durex suggests that Chinese people enjoy a better sex life than the world average.

The online survey covered 34 countries and regions around the world. More than 50,000 of the over 150,000 respondents were Chinese.

The survey suggests Chinese adults have sex 132 times a year on average, a little bit higher than the world average of 127 times. Eighty-three percent of Chinese couples said they are satisfied with their sex lives; 73 percent for the world average.

In addition, the survey indicates that Chinese people have the most serious attitude toward sex.

In the world, there were 45 percent of the questioned admitted to having a one-night stand, but only 32 percent of Chinese made such an admission.

(People's Daily   November 10, 2003)