Heartbreak: Sex Theme Park Closes

Just as we noted the opening of Love Land the other day, it's already been shut down.

Sigh.

This investment turned out to be as risky as it was risque.

A sex theme park that featured explicit exhibits and sexual culture is being demolished before it can even open, a government spokesman in southwestern China said.

The park, christened 'Love Land' by its owners, went under the wrecking ball over the weekend in the city of Chongqing, said the spokesman.

The spokesman refused to give the reason for the demolition or other details.

However, photographs of the adult-only park had circulated widely on the Internet over the weekend, prompting widespread mockery and condemnation.

Exhibits had included giant-sized reproductions of male and female anatomy, dissertations on how the topic of sex is treated in various cultures and what the official China Daily newspaper called 'sex technique workshops.'

The demolition highlights conflicted views on sex in modern China, where a prudish attitude toward discussion of sexuality is paired with an almost clinical approach to its physical aspects.

While pornography is banned and sex education largely unheard of, shops selling sex toys and related items stand out prominently in many neighborhoods and sex outside marriage is widely tolerated.

Prostitution, while technically illegal, is widespread and the keeping of mistresses among prominent businessmen and Communist Party officials is considered commonplace.

You've just got to appreciate this photo, although the white pumps on blue porcelain just doesn't do it for me.