14 DAY TRIAL // It's quite easy to tell apart Japanese and Chinese tourists: hairstyle and clothing. Still, Chinese designers are keen on proving us that they are creative, going to the limit of fashion (and somehow of the good taste). They decked out models in condom couture at the Fourth China Reproductive Health New Technologies and Products Expo, sponsored by China's largest condom manufacturer, Guilin Latex Factory.
The bright colors this week on the Beijing catwalk did not focus on the fashion show but rather on the idea of safe sex. The fashion show comes to promote prophylactic use of condoms in the fight against HIV/AIDS and timed to World Population Day, organized yearly by the UN Population Fund. China faces a traditional taboo about sex talks, translated to scarce sex education, and to sexual ignorance that speeds AIDS and leads to a booming population, being also reflected in the great number of teen pregnancies and aborts.
Condoms of all shapes, colors and sizes were combined to make tight-fitting wedding gowns, scaly-looking evening dresses, outrageous bikinis, hats, lollipops and other garments made entirely of condoms, inflated or otherwise, reported Reuters on Thursday. Visitors were also able to see condom-made craftwork, like Chinese knots, wind-bells, lanterns and decorations. "The popularity of condoms is not high, although relevant authorities have been committed in promoting HIV/AIDS prevention." said Tao Ran, director of the Guilin Latex Factory.
By 2033, the Chinese population is expected to increase by 200 million, from 1.3 billion to 1.5 billion, according to data from China's State Population and Family Planning Commission.
China introduced the strict one-child policy in the late 1970s under which families with more than one child received penalties (except the minority groups). "One (child) is not enough - two are better," visitor Song Weiliang told Reuters.
China originally stigmatized AIDS as a Western disease, restricted to gays, sex workers and drug users, which officially, did not even existed in communist China, signaled Reuters. But now, the disease is spreading quickly into the mainstream population.