Xu Tao, a student at Yunnan University, said that due to a lack of sex education, most university students learn about sex from pornography.

In Xu's opinion, if the two parties are truly in love and intend to marry each other, sex before marriage is acceptable.

"If my university added sex education into the curriculum, it might be helpful for freshmen," Xu said. "But I would not be willing to attend such classes since I have obtained enough sexual knowledge through other channels."

Nie Wen (not a real name), 21, an art student, said she did not think sex before marriage should be forbidden.

"Both my boyfriend and I are over 18, and we are already adults," Nie said. "We had been in love for three years, and sex has improved our relation-ship," Nie said.

Calls to the publicity office of Yunnan Provincial Education Department went unanswered Tuesday.