About 60 percent of young people in Shanghai shop for sex products online, Xinwen Evening Post quoted a recent survey of local people aged between 25 and 30 as saying.
Most people in the survey said shopping online is faster and more convenient than buying at local stores.
They said there are usually a wider range of products offered online than at local stores.
"I usually buy common sex products such as contraceptive pills and condoms at local stores," said a young woman surnamed Xu.
"For other products, I would go online and shop there, where I have much more choice."
Shyness is another factor that has driven many local young people to online stores, the survey indicated.
Sex still remains a taboo subject in China, and is often confined to private conversation, analysts pointed out.
"I can't bear curious eyes from the sales staff when I shop at local stores," Xu said.
"I feel embarrassed."
A worker at a sex shop in the Bund area concurred with the conclusion of the survey. He declined to identify himself.
He said it's a widely known fact within the industry that local stores are losing business to online vendors.
Most of his shop's customers are foreigners.
(eastday.com June 14, 2002)
