How the Chinese make love. How do the Chinese practice taijiquan qigong and wushu? The "bright side" of the Chinese

Eastern countries have a fundamentally different approach to sex than Western countries. What is the difference?

One of the features of the Chinese tradition is the inextricable link between spiritual and sexual relationships. It was this connection that created the unique sexual culture of the Chinese - an organic part of the system of spiritual and physical improvement of man. In China, there is no cult of enjoying sex, but there is no hypocrisy born of fear of the power of the body. The Chinese attitude towards sex is rather practical and chaste. Sex in China is a common part of life, from which you can extract a lot of useful and pleasant things for yourself.

Sexual culture of China

The sexual culture of China has a Taoist basis and combines the unity of three directions: morality (feelings must be permeated with consciousness), revelation (both aesthetic and revelation of holiness and immortality) and benefit (health promotion).

For the Chinese, sexual relations have long been the most obvious and pure embodiment of the interaction of the cosmic forces of yin and yang in order to obtain energy. In Chinese sex, there are a lot of ceremonies and rituals, elements of the game and intrigue as a result of the desire to stretch the pleasure.
A woman is an equal sexual partner, so the questions of how to arrange a woman for sex and satisfy her have received a lot of attention in Chinese literature.

In the East there is no difference between divine and sexual grace. The birth of a child has always been regarded as an indicator of fertile energy. If a person has many children, then he is both sexually and spiritually very strong. The strength and power of the Chinese emperor was estimated primarily by the number of children.

Sex as art

In Taoist practice, sex is a great art. But the overriding goal was life extension. It was believed that it was competent sexual behavior, and not diet, breathing exercises, sleep and daily routine, that was the foundation of longevity and health. It is no coincidence that the most ancient Chinese treatises are devoted not to philosophy, but to the art of intimate relationships.

Coition in the East is devoid of sinfulness. And when there is no concept of sin, there is no prohibition. Unlike Western novels, where the curtain falls just when the couple extinguishes the lights, in Eastern literature sex is presented in all physiological detail, interspersed with descriptions of nature and philosophical discourse.

Healing with sex

In China, in addition to classical nuns - nigu - there is a special kind of novices. They undergo a long sexual education in the monastery. The mission of these novices, called “gui” (something like “spirits of sex”), is to heal by copulation. With special sexual skills, they draw out bad energy from the patient, giving healthy energy in return, and as soon as the man recovers, they leave him. It is noteworthy that gui nuns, in spite of everything, are considered girls. "Spirits of sex" do not shine with beauty and, unlike geishas, ​​they are not interested in the client's money. They usually have short bob haircuts, modest clothes, and minimal make-up.

For an oriental man, the voice of a partner is important. The ideal is extremely high, vibrating around one sound, like the chirping of a bird or the sleepy murmur of a stream, a kind of background music, which, by the way, was specially taught to geishas. The higher the voice, the more masterfully the woman owns sexual technique. But the ligaments of a flirting man, on the contrary, are tuned to the lowest sounds.

sex and gender

In the East, there was no concept of "non-traditional orientation." Replacing a partner with a representative of the same sex was poetically called "changing the strings of the lute." Incredibly, by the beginning of the 20th century, 60-70% of Chinese women were engaged in same-sex love. A lot of images are devoted to such relationships, and without any touch of obsceneness: this is not a forbidden fruit, but a completely ordinary story.

Sex prohibitions

At the same time, there are a number of conventions in the East, which are forbidden to break. For example, in the West, kissing a woman on the cheek when meeting or parting is quite decent. In the East, this is an indecent act.

There is a clear rule: sexual relations are not hidden, but they are not mixed with ordinary life. That is why there should be no romance at work.

How did a Chinese man find his "half"? There were special books with a lot of characteristics, including the shape of a woman's eyes, her complexion, and even the direction of hair growth on her arms, according to which it was calculated how much she corresponded to a given man, whether she contained the right energy.

Yevgeny Kulgavchuk, sexologist, psychotherapist, psychiatrist: “The modern approach to sexual relations in China still bears the imprint of former views. But, according to statistics, today the Chinese rank first among the inhabitants of other states in terms of satisfaction with their sex life. This means that Western civilization has a lot to learn from the East.

Sex life has two components: hedonia and reproduction. The influence of culture and religion on sexual relations has always been significant. There are sexophilic and sexophobic cultures. The first group includes China, India. Sexophilic cultures maintain a balance between hedonism and reproduction - however, some manifestations may go beyond our traditions. The second group is Europe. Russia in times of paganism could be attributed to the first group.

In my work, I often recommend both Western techniques (American sex therapy according to Masters and Johnson) and Eastern ones. I should note that oriental approaches are sometimes more effective, because they allow not only to improve sexual technique, but also help to properly tune in to intimacy. But do not try everything that was once described. Much has not a practical meaning, but a descriptive, cultural one. After all, once the Earth was considered flat, not round. Moreover, some techniques, such as excessive abstinence, can be harmful to men's health, especially in old age.

Taken from: medweb.ru

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For many centuries, the elite of the Celestial Empire used various sexual practices to improve health and prolong life. Under the communists, restrictions were introduced everywhere, but the ruling elite and personally Mao Zedong did not deny themselves anything, including erotic entertainment.

- The Chinese do not believe in an afterlife - what then is the cult of ancestors?

There is no contradiction here. These ancestral spirits are actually material. That is why offerings are needed. Incorporeal spirits do not need any material offerings or other ritual actions of their descendants.

So, from the above it follows that the more children a person left behind, the better. So, it is necessary to copulate in such a way that each sexual act leads to conception, the seed is not wasted in vain, and at the same time life is extended, not shortened.

- And how to combine all this in practice?

To begin with, a person must study his body well. The Chinese have certainly succeeded in this. One text from the second century BC describes the female genital organ, and 20 terms are used for this. This is twice as much as in the modern Western medical encyclopedia. But, I must say, for the Chinese, the body is not a form, but a set of functions. What we call organs, for the Chinese are functional systems (channels, energy paths). Having known his own body, a person can control it like a machine. He must harmonize the actions of this machine with other factors, that is, use it not just like that, but at the most appropriate moments for this. By the way, it is easier for women - their body is already regulated by monthly cycles, and men need to adapt. Sex itself is perceived by the Chinese as a struggle between the sexes for the energy that is needed to heal and prolong life. It’s easier for women here too - naturally, in a sexual intercourse, men give energy, and women receive it. But Taoist practices, as the authors of the relevant texts claimed, allowed a man to go against nature, to make a "thieves' trip to heaven", that is, to have sexual contact, to enjoy, but not to give, but to acquire energy. You can do this by separating orgasm and ejaculation. Then you can get energy from many women. This is how polygamy arises: although formally in China, a man had one wife, but in fact there were many. A whole hierarchy of different concubines was required not only so that a man could indulge in voluptuousness, but also to obtain the maximum amount of life-giving energy.

Erotic figurines on display in Hangzhou

Photo: Shi Peng / ChinaFotoPress / Zuma / Global Look

This is a difficult question, since we have written sources describing the life of the elite - scientists, poets, officials, close associates of the emperor, and we know poorly how ordinary people lived in ancient times. It is known for sure that among rich people it all took on Homeric forms - the number of concubines could be calculated not even in hundreds, but in thousands. And even the attendants - eunuchs - could be so much that they created influential parties at the court.

As for the people, then, of course, ordinary Chinese did not read erotic treatises. But Chinese society was in a sense very democratic, there was a well-oiled system of social mobility, and this allowed cultural information to circulate between different segments of the population. As a result, both the top and the bottom of society professed approximately the same values. Therefore, it can be assumed that ordinary Chinese also had basic ideas about erotology.

Let's move on from antiquity to modern times. Did Comrade Mao practice something similar?

He was a very interesting person. On the one hand, Mao Zedong is a fiery revolutionary who absorbed the theses of Bolshevik culture, on the other hand, he is a conscious traditionalist. He wrote poetry in the classical Chinese manner, knew Chinese historical texts well, and was engaged in calligraphy. Of course, he was familiar with erotological treatises. And what is known about Mao's life, for example, from the memoirs of his doctor, indicates that he did not separate theory from practice. Even in difficult field conditions, he was always surrounded by girls. This, by the way, is very revealing: for Europeans, war, campaigns are such difficulties during which women are not in the mood, because they do not have enough physical strength. And for the Chinese, on the contrary, in such conditions, women are especially needed - to feed on their energy. At the end of his life, Comrade Mao was literally surrounded by girls: they gave him a massage, contributed to the excitation of vital energy.

This is about the Great Helmsman himself. And how sexually liberated was society under his leadership?

The masses of the people tend in principle to act not according to science, but according to instinct. In Russia, by the way, after the revolution, until the end of the 1920s, sexual mores were very free. But then came the era of terrible purism. The authorities decided that the people should spend their energy on building communism, and not waste it in their bedrooms. The same thing happened in China under Mao. They tightened the screws for the people, but the authorities did not limit themselves in anything and acted as connoisseurs and connoisseurs of sexual practices.

- Today, when Chinese society is undergoing reforms and becoming more open, is the topic of sex taboo?

Of course, now the situation is changing. The sexual theme is called "yellow". For example, the fight against pornography is called "yellow sweeping." But it is not very clear: is sexual emancipation today a consequence of the return of the Chinese to their traditional culture, or is it the result of globalization and the introduction of Western values? Perhaps there is both.

I must say that since for many Chinese prohibitions and restrictions are associated with a harsh communist past, the movement towards freedom, as in the West, is associated with sexual emancipation.

As for erotology, the bans were lifted literally before my very eyes. Back in the early 1990s, the corresponding treatises were simply not published in the PRC. Then they began to print them with banknotes, and a few years ago all the bans were finally lifted. Now in China there are even museums dedicated to traditional erotica.

Detention of prostitutes who worked in a Shenzhen barbershop.

- With pornography in China they are fighting, but not with traditional erotica?

Traditional Chinese erotic painting is similar in content to pornography. But human bodies are depicted so unrealistically that such pictures are not perceived as pornography.

Given the gender imbalance, the lack of women, how do Chinese men fulfill their sexual desires? Is there prostitution in China?

There is. It is mainly concentrated in massage parlors and hairdressers. This is where sexual services are provided.

- And what is specifically Chinese here? Prostitutes work in massage parlors all over the world…

This is because the needs of people everywhere are the same. "Universal values", so to speak. It is convenient to combine different procedures related to the body in one place. In Russian culture, this place has traditionally been a bathhouse. But the Chinese specificity lies in the fact that massage plays a different role in culture. This is not an exotic treat. Ordinary people in China, on their way home from work, go to salons for a wellness massage to relieve fatigue. That is, in Chinese culture, massage is a means of restoring strength. As well as sex, which we have already talked about.

In China, “intricate melodies of numerous burps, farts and spittings become a familiar and integral part of the sound picture of the world. Otherwise, it is impossible - the flows of qi energy must flow freely through the body. Philologist-Orientalist Vera Ermilina - about the positive and negative aspects of the Chinese mentality.

The "dark side" of the Chinese

Since many of my acquaintances, knowing that I am in China, often start a dialogue with the question “Well, how are the Chinese there?”, I decided to dedicate the first serious post on this blog to my perception of the inhabitants of the country that currently serves as my haven, and long term, who knows? - can be a new home for me.

I must say right away that I am always wary of stereotypes and generalizations regarding any groups of people, especially such large ones as an ethnic group. However, having lived for some time in the country, you willy-nilly begin to notice for yourself certain patterns, properties inherent in the vast majority of representatives of this nationality. And, as for the Chinese, at a certain point I came to a disappointing conclusion: I don't like them. There are several reasons for this, I will try to list them:

1. Household culture

It so happened that for an ordinary Chinese, the expression “what is natural is not ugly” is a life credo. When you walk down the street in China, all the rich variety of sounds emitted by the human body harmoniously intertwines with the usual city noise - the intricate melodies of numerous burps, farts and spitting become a familiar and integral part of the sound picture of the world. Otherwise, it is impossible - the flows of qi energy must flow freely through the body and leave it at the moment when it is necessary. Many of the taboos familiar to Westerners do not work here, especially with regard to children. Making a 7-year-old child sit down to pee in the middle of the street is fine; breastfeeding a baby in the subway - no problem; let the offspring rush around the restaurant, scream and wallow on the floor - why not (however, raising children is a question from another area, perhaps I will write about this too someday). A topic for a separate story is the culture of using public latrines: many Chinese (probably mostly those who came to the city from the provinces) do not consider it necessary to close the door when entering a cubicle; in those rare cases when there is a toilet in the restroom, after looking at its condition, as a rule, you still give preference to the usual “glass”.

2. Disrespect for personal space

It's no secret that there are a lot of Chinese. Lots of. Therefore, where a Dane or a Swede acquires his own house and a plot with a lawn, within which everything is subject to his personal taste, and he can be alone with himself, the Chinese literally sit on each other's heads. Traditional large families, cramped apartments in which 3-4 generations live at the same time, for the older of which collectivism is one of the main features of the worldview - all this contributes to the habit of most Chinese to constantly be in the crowd, without experiencing discomfort. Hence the extremely annoying behavior of most foreigners, for example, in the subway, when, in order to get off the train or enter it, people simply push each other aside; those who stand on the platform squeeze into the car, and without first thinking to let people out of it, and this is not rudeness, this is the norm. If you are traveling by train or flying in an airplane, and your neighbor wants to meet you - do not expect to read a book; if you are nearby, it means that you are open for communication, and the body language we are used to - directed to the other side, a closed posture, cold and laconic answers - will most likely remain incomprehensible, and, whether you like it or not, you will have to hear everything about political views, culinary preferences and vicissitudes of family life of the interlocutor.

3. Narrow outlook

The peculiarities of Chinese education are such that learning is based on unconscious cramming and is aimed not so much at obtaining the maximum amount of knowledge, the formation of a wide range of interests and creative thinking, but rather at passing school and college exams (something is vaguely reminiscent, isn't it?). Therefore, as a rule, the Chinese do not shine with erudition; for most of them, the Baltic countries are somewhere between Russia and China, the population of Belgium most likely speaks Belgian, and Bolivia is such an American state. In general, the picture of the world is approximately the same as that of most of our compatriots, but it is also complemented by an unwillingness to think critically, analyze, and draw one's own conclusions. According to my feelings, the average Chinese is an ideal machine for performing basic tasks according to standard schemes, his intellectual activity is based on a set of ideas and stereotypes learned from school (in Russia it’s cold, a big nose is beautiful, Africans are aggressive, drink more water). Such a unity of opinion among the inhabitants of a country with a billion people is an absolute plus from a political point of view: the Chinese are easy to manage, their reactions are understandable and predictable. However, in terms of interpersonal and intercultural communication, it seems to me that this contributes to the preservation of a huge communication hole between “us” and “them”.

All of the above, of course, does not apply to all Chinese. Of course, among them there are highly cultured and educated people, charming personalities and excellent interlocutors. But I tried to formulate those unpleasant features that, according to my feelings, are inherent in the majority of the inhabitants of this country.

The "bright side" of the Chinese

1. Table culture

I'm not sure there is such a thing, but oh well. I am one of those people who always finds a dish on a neighbor’s plate tastier than their own, and in Western-style restaurants, where you have to choose one and only one from all the variety of delicious things on the menu, I get a little sad. There is no such problem in Chinese public catering: several dishes are always ordered (moreover, their number, as a rule, is 2-3 more than the number of those sitting at the table), which are placed in the middle, and something like a mini buffet is obtained. In this situation, firstly, you can try a much larger number of dishes, secondly, even if some of them are not to your taste, you definitely won’t leave hungry, because you will surely like something, thirdly, economically such dinners are more profitable, because the amount of the check is usually divided among all eaters.

My attitude to Chinese cuisine is ambiguous: some dishes I gobble up with pleasure (fish-flavored pork), others seem rather dull to me (all sorts of soups with unleavened noodles), and there are some that I can’t justify the existence of at all (stinky tofu), but the very form of collective food appeals to me. In addition, here you can practically not worry about observing table etiquette - no special forks for oysters and bowls for rinsing fingers - only sticks, only hardcore. All scraps, shells, bones and napkins, as a rule, are thrown directly onto a table covered with cellophane film, or onto the floor. From the point of view of aesthetics - outrageous, from the point of view of convenience - that's it. If you, like me, have a slightly worse manner than the Queen of England, you will be quite comfortable in a Chinese restaurant.

2. Diligence

Although, perhaps, this is not entirely correct: the Chinese (as, indeed, most representatives of other nationalities) do not differ in love for work; but their ability to long and patiently engage in boring and monotonous work is sometimes amazing. The most striking example is, of course, work in production. The salaries of workers in Chinese factories are very low, working conditions, to put it mildly, are not a Google office, but where a Russian would drink himself, a Frenchman organized a trade union strike, and a German took up optimization, the Chinese calmly work shift after shift, often staying overtime to earn more . More than the opportunity for creative self-expression, career prospects and all sorts of challenges so dear to the European heart, the average Chinese appreciates stability. As long as the job brings a steady income, no matter how boring it may be, they will plow, eat unleavened rice and be happy with what they have - I sometimes think that this can be envied. The quality of their work is another matter...

3. Tolerance

There has never been a religious war in China in its entire history. Well, they drove, say, Buddhists to Tang, because they were great lovers of living for free at the expense of alms, and there were not enough working hands; well, they banned the Falun Gong sect, because it’s not good to roll a barrel against the Communist Party ... but bloody conflicts because in one village the goddess Guanyin is painted with 6 hands, and in another - with 8, never happened here. As long as your beliefs do not threaten national security and do not imply violations of the law, you can believe in anything. In China, in my experience, gay people (at least in big cities) and other minorities are quite tolerant. I have a feeling (perhaps wrongly) that they are very tolerant of physical handicaps, so people are much less insecure. On the streets and in the parks, many dance, sing out loud, do qigong, and no one condemns anyone for extravagance. It's a bit weird, but overall, it's probably great.

4. Friendliness and hospitality

This is probably the flip side of the lack of personal space, but this does not change the essence. The Chinese are very open guys, always ready to help, show the way, invite them to dinner. They smile a lot and rarely get angry. Being a foreigner here, I often encounter curiosity in my address (sometimes excessive), but never aggression. When you come to a Chinese home, he tries very hard to do everything to make the guest comfortable and satisfying.

Something like this ... I wanted to add a dozen or so “buts” to each item, but I tried to somehow stay positive. Here are some Baikal aunts with oranges, so that it would be completely joyful.

Modern researchers believe that the roots of the erotic well-being of the Celestial Empire lie in its history and culture. They are confident that the teachings of the Taoists, combined with the revelations of Buddha Shakyamuni, seasoned with the wisdom of Confucius, have led to the fact that every moment of the Chinese life is filled with the breath of the cosmos, and love is seen as the apotheosis of the unity of man and the higher forces of the universe.

orgasm in chinese

Unlike sanctimonious Europe with its endless bans on any manifestation of sexuality, China has always treated this issue more simply, considering intimate relationships as part of nature and human existence. The Chinese never insisted on the monopoly of spouses in terms of erotic pleasures, and such concepts as love and sex did not necessarily have to involve marriage. That is, if you want, then on health, but in principle no one insists.

As for the actual “technique” of intimate life, in this matter Europe, with its missionary posture, not only lagged behind, but was generally in a deep erotic Mesozoic. Two thousand years ago, ancient Taoist healers wrote frank and understandable books about love and sex. They recommended not only to enjoy sex, but also to use intimate relationships as a cure for many diseases.

It was health care that gave rise to the technique of sexual relations, which became the hallmark of Chinese erotology. It's about separating ejaculation from orgasm. Taoist sages wrote: After ejaculation, a man feels tired, his ears are buzzing, his eyes are closed, and he wants to sleep. He feels thirsty, and his limbs become sluggish and stiff. And if during the ejection of the seed he experiences a moment of pleasure, then long hours of fatigue follow. But if a man knows how to regulate his ejaculation and reduces the number of ejaculations to a minimum, then his body becomes stronger, his mind is clear, and hearing and vision improve. It may seem that a man forbids himself to experience the sharp and pleasant sensation of ejaculation, however, as a result of restraint, his attraction noticeably noticeably increases, as if he cannot get enough of the woman he loves. Isn't that the real pleasure.

Take care of the "ching" from a young age

According to the Taoist teachings, we come into this world noble and capable of compassion. All our virtues come from the reserves of internal energy, which is called "ching", is concentrated in the internal organs and is gradually consumed during life. We partially compensate for her losses by doing various good deeds and proper nutrition. Over the years, a person produces less and less energy, but spends the same amount.

After the age of 25, all reserves of blessed energy are exhausted, and we begin to draw it from our internal organs of the liver, heart, kidneys, which makes them work worse. That is why we grow old, get sick and die. Our precious “jing” is lost under stress and all sorts of troubles, and anger, anger, envy literally pump it out.

From here, the Taoist sages draw an obvious conclusion: the more energy we have stored, the healthier and longer we live. And you can save it by avoiding anger, fear, anxiety and anxiety, or by experiencing positive and bright feelings from good deeds, which is very difficult.

On the other hand, say the sages of antiquity, in our gonads there are whole deposits of high-quality "ching", and sexual arousal allows us to increase this energy. Men waste a lot of "ching" during ejaculation (ejaculation) to no avail, and women during each menstruation. Taoist philosophers invented a huge number of techniques, something like gymnastics, which allows you to constantly be in a state of erotic uplift in order to produce energy, pump it into the brain, purify and direct it to other organs to maintain youth and good spirits. The primary task for men is to ejaculate as little as possible, and for women to get rid of menstruation long before the menopause and, moreover, make love a lot and with pleasure.

We are accustomed to believe that the peak of sexual pleasure is necessarily associated with relaxation, orgasm. In this case, the man ejaculates, and the woman has rhythmic contractions of the walls of the vagina and cervix with the secretion of special glands. Taoist teachers call this orgasm "external" and treat it with disdain, as second-rate, associated solely with a waste of energy.

“The highest pleasure is to bring yourself to a boiling point, and then turn off the fire. And let the ardor gradually fade away. They argue that both partners at the same time experience an orgasm not physical, with a vulgar outpouring of liquids, but spiritual, "top", in beauty and intensity incomparable with the "external". Then an unprecedented peace descends on the partners and they seem to soar in higher spheres.

gourmet sex

Having discovered this amazing truth, the adherents of Taoism went further and in the most detailed way thought through every detail of the intimate relationship between a man and a woman. Thus was born the Tao of Love. In ancient treatises, you can read: If a couple follows the rules of the Tao of love, then the man will remain healthy and young, and the woman will avoid a hundred diseases. Both will be able to enjoy love until the end of their days and at the same time maintain physical strength. But if they do not know how to behave properly, then making love can even damage their health. And in order to benefit from the methods of the Tao, the couple must first learn proper breathing—breathing long and deep so that their bodies relax. And they need to have a sense of confidence so that their hearts are at peace.

It is also necessary to reach agreement in desires so that there are no conflicts. And when they succeed in these three essential matters, only then will they be able to use the methods of the Tao. In addition, lovers need to pay attention to material factors such as temperature (so that it is neither hot nor cold where they are loved) and the condition of the stomach (not too full and not too empty). And it is desirable to choose such methods of intercourse in which the woman will be completely satisfied, and the man will not be exhausted. Intercourse should be easy. The ancient Chinese considered the highest act of unification of two people not so much the merging of two bodies, but an amazing spiritual interpenetration, when a man discovered the feminine inside himself - Yin, and a woman - the masculine - Yang. It is easy to guess that it took a lot of time to understand and master all these techniques and wisdom. Therefore, Chinese men to this day are valued not for their youth and beauty, but for the incredible sophistication of sexual techniques and a truly marathon duration of intercourse.

When Japanese actress and former porn star Sora Aoi announced she was getting married, the news sparked a storm on Chinese social media. The fact is that the actress played an important role in the life of the younger generation of Chinese.

On New Year's Eve, Sora Aoi posted a picture of her engagement ring on her Weibo account, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, and broke the happy news of her engagement to her fans around the world. Within 48 hours, the entry received over 170,000 comments and 830,000 likes.

“We grew up with your films and will always support you,” wrote one fan.

“You will always be my goddess. I wish you happiness,” wrote another Weibo user.

Aoi began her career in the porn industry in the early 2000s and has appeared in over 90 adult films. While pornography is considered illegal in China, that hasn't stopped Chinese men from going crazy for Aoi.

"For many men who failed to receive proper sex education during their teenage years, Sora Aoi became a teacher," said Liu Qiang (not his real name), 27-year-old.

Aoi's popularity in China skyrocketed as the Chinese Internet began to develop at a rapid pace. New web portals, online communities, streaming platforms appeared. This contributed to the dissemination of all kinds of information, including illegal pornographic materials.

In high school, Liu Qiang watched Aoi's MP4 movies and recorded them on media to swap with friends. With the development of technology, they began to watch videos on the Internet, because it is easier.

“Sora Aoi showed up in China just in time. When it became popular with us, China opened up to the rest of the world from different angles, including in the field of sexuality,” said Professor Wai-ming Nge from the Department of Japanese Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Pornography is the main source of information about sex for young Chinese. At school, sex education is limited, and parents in conversations with children bypass this topic.

In 2009, Peking University conducted a study of 22,000 young people aged 15 to 24. Each participant was asked three questions about the health of the reproductive system, and only 4.4 percent of the respondents were able to answer correctly. The researchers also found that most young people learn about sex on their own.

Lin Yinhe, China's first female sexologist, warns against using pornography as a tool for sex education. In her opinion, porn depicts sex in an exaggerated way, and this can be misleading for many young people, as they will compare themselves with porn actors.

So how did Aoi stand out in the age of free pornography? Sex remains a taboo topic in many Asian countries, but Aoi says she never beat herself up about her career in the porn industry. She has always said that she loves her job because it gives her the opportunity to travel and meet fans all over the world. Even when Aoi is insulted in the comments, she responds politely and with warmth. Her openness and frankness helped her earn the respect and recognition of her fans.

Aoi started her Twitter account on April 11, 2010. When news of this reached China, where Twitter is banned, netizens began downloading VPN clients en masse to bypass the Great Firewall of China. This night was later called "Sora Aoi's Night". Seven months later, Aoi opened a Weibo account. She now has 18 million followers, more than Taylor Swift and David Beckham.

Sora Aoi retired from the porn industry in 2011 and began her career as a singer and actress. She has released several singles and acted in several films and series. China remains a lucrative market for her. It looks like she put a lot of effort into getting to know Chinese culture better. Every post of the actress on Weibo is written in Chinese. In addition to the language, she also studies Chinese calligraphy. In 2013, one of her works was sold for $92,000.

Paradoxically, with the differences between China and Japan, Aoi is so popular among Chinese men. In China, the brutality of Japan during World War II is still remembered. In addition, there is a territorial dispute between these countries over the status of the islands, known in China as the Diaoyu Islands, and in Japan as the Senkaku Islands.

“Once upon a time, there was a popular joke on the Internet: “The Diaoyu Islands belong to China, and Sora Aoi belongs to the world.” In this way, Aoi helped reduce international tension,” says Chinese writer Huang Wenwei.

Professor Nge argues that the Sora Aoi phenomenon in China is a symbol of how, in the era of globalization, people build their identity not only on the basis of their nationality, but also on the basis of the media content they consume.

“People who love Sora Aoi, no matter what country they are from, feel like they belong to the same community,” says Professor Nge.

Perhaps Aoi serves as a reminder to young people across Asia that, despite their nationality and different political views, they have more in common than they think.