China schools break sex taboo

Schools in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo are to start using what is being billed as the country's first sex education handbook.

The book, entitled Thoughts of Teenagers, will go into use in October.

A local official told the China Daily the book addressed the psychology of sex, rather than just the physiology.

The official said a recent survey had shown students mainly learned about sex from the internet, friends and the media - rather than school or family.

Issues such as masturbation, contraception, sex harassment, Aids and homosexuality, are handled in a scientific way China Daily

The book was compiled by Xu Xiaohong, director of the Education and Research Department of Ningbo's Haishu District Education Bureau.

She was helped by a student psychology tutor and eight student advisers, the China Daily said.

"Issues such as masturbation, contraception, sex harassment, Aids and homosexuality, are handled in a scientific way," according to the paper.

Open discussion of sex is still rare in China, and the authorities only officially struck homosexuality off the list of mental illnesses two years ago.

But in another sign of growing openness, China's official press has also been reporting the interest shown in clinical trials for a drug aimed at helping women achieve orgasm.

More than 200 volunteers had registered to test a drug known as "female Viagra" by the end of August, China Daily International reported on Monday.

The China Daily commented on Tuesday: "Chinese women are paying attention to the quality of their sex life, a long-time taboo in Chinese society."