Guangzhou to host sex-themed festival in October

A sex-themed festival is scheduled to open in Guangzhou, in south China's Guangdong province, in October to showcase sex culture and disseminate sex education, the event organizer announced on Thursday.

The 10th edition of the festival will host a variety of activities like exhibitions of 100 ancient sex relics, sexology forums, and lingerie catwalk shows from Oct. 6 to 8, with organizers hoping to attract visitors during the National Day holiday.

Zhu Jiaming, deputy director of the organizing committee, said the event will also feature two photo exhibitions of AIDS-related subjects designed to present the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

"Though the festival may not easily change people's traditional attitudes about sex, it will increase public awareness of sex education and health," Zhu said, adding that the festival has been attracting more and more young and female visitors since its inception.

Sex-themed festivals are no longer rare in China. Besides big cities like Guangzhou and Shanghai, some relatively conservative inland urban centers like Zhengzhou in central China's Henan province have also held such events.

First launched in 2003, the Guangzhou sex culture festival is reportedly China's largest such event. The previous nine editions attracted more than 3 million visitors, according to the organizer.