Asia Adult Expo: Despite conservative traditions, Asia's sex industry is exploding

Asia Adult Expo: Despite conservative traditions, Asia's sex industry is exploding

A busty girl in an air hostess costume waves an artificial vagina in my face then shakes it near her crotch. She unbuttons her shirt and slips out of her skirt, revealing a black bikini underneath. Now she returns to pumping the device to the beat of a Japanese pop song.
This was the scene at the press preview for last weekend's Asia Adult Expo. Japanese sex toy company Tenga was hosting a product demonstration of Flip Lite, their best-selling masturbation sleeve, and the girl in front of me was Japanese porn actress Anna Hisaki. The male photographers around me looked like they couldn’t believe their luck.
Held at The Venetian Macau on August 20-22, the third Asia Adult Expo was a three-day sex fair during which sex toy manufacturers from around the globe paraded their latest curiosities. These included the world’s smallest vibrator and an inflatable President Obama sex doll.

While attendees were getting close looks at the artificial vagina, in another corner of the exhibition hall kimono-clad adult-video stars Kayama Mika and Mihiro autographed covers of 3D porn flicks. In a booth nearby, two Chinese models in barely-there bunny outfits passed out Playboy-branded condoms.

These three scenes were the raunchiest of the first day. In fact, most of the exhibition booths were pretty routine and the expo wasn’t exactly the risqué affair that some expected -- some male friends who paid to get in said they wanted their money back. Still, there's no denying that China has a massive pent-up demand for X-rated products.
This year's Asia Adult Expo saw a total of 30,000 visitors, a 20 percent spike over last year. The number of exhibitors and exhibition space has grown exponentially since the fair’s inception three years ago. Kenny Lo, chief executive of Asia Adult Expo organizer Vertical Expo, credits women for the surge in popularity.
“Many high-earning women in their thirties and forties in China’s metropolises get really enthusiastic over sex toys, and can spend up to HK$3,000 in one sex-toy shopping spree,” said Lo. “They’re past their marriageable age, can’t find a partner and have sexual needs, so they turn to pleasuring themselves. And this particular demographic is growing in both mainland China and in Hong Kong.” Lo estimates female adult products, such as vibrators and lingerie, account for up to 70 percent of total income for many of Asia Adult Expo’s exhibitors.

Also rapidly gaining a following in China are inexpensive, mass-produced sex toys. Nanma, a Hong Kong-based firm selling bargain bin sex toys, hosted one of the most popular booths at the fair.
“I’m seeing more cheap sex toys being sold at sex shops and adult expos in mainland China,” said Lo. “Unlike the average of HK$1,000 and HK$2,000 here at the Asia Adult Expo, they go for a lot cheaper --usually under HK$100.”
For all the mushrooming demand, there are taboos that have yet to be broken in the country.
“Marketing in China is very different. For instance, pornography is forbidden in China. We have to be very careful not to mix up with that,  so in our posters we have to be very careful and not use such sexy images,” said Arnd Krusche, managing director of Hong Kong-based sex toy distributor Loewie.
“China has enormous potential and spending power, but Chinese society is still conservative,” said Lo. "Sex shops in Hong Kong and mainland China are hard to find, mostly hidden in alleys and inside small shopping malls, whereas anywhere else in the world you can find them on main streets of the city center.”
“Chinese reluctance to shopping in the open (for sex toys) has spawned a large online order business,” said Lo. “In China you’ll find thousands, even tens of thousands, of online shops selling sex toys.”