Suzhou Supplement: Suzhou’s Saucy Side: Tongli’s China Sex Museum

By Amber Mizerak

Looking for an easy and amusing overnight trip from Shanghai? Then I highly recommend checking out Tongli, partly because of its proximity to easily accessible Suzhou, but mostly for the China Sex Museum. My boyfriend and I left work on a Friday and hopped on a train from Shanghai Railway Station to Suzhou; the fast train takes just 25 minutes. We decided to stay overnight in Suzhou and enjoy our surroundings, including a wooden Chinese canopy bed at a local hostel, complete with light peering in through carved wooden shutters.

After dropping off our bags, we enjoyed a quiet walk by a canal and dined on late-night Chinese barbecue. While out, we discovered Jane's Bar and its famously horrible karaoke – so bad in fact, that several people had napkins shoved in their ears! Luckily, we then found a good crowd at Jenny's in the Ligongdi bar district, who were enjoying some live music thanks to a fun group of Filipino entertainers. The next morning, we grabbed our belongings and caught the hour-long bus to Tongli.

The China Sex Museum is both entertaining and enlightening. It was built to educate China's youth and promote a healthy relationship with sex. Prior to 2004 it was housed in Shanghai, but due to some bureaucratic issues it has now settled in picturesque Tongli. 

The museum is located inside a little gated canal town – the kind that costs RMB 80 to enter. Once inside the town gates, meander through the alleyways until you find the museum. At the museum entrance you pay RMB 20 and are immediately greeted by an enormous phallus. Snapping a picture of the comical statue of a man standing with fists clenched, draped in chains with his giant, erect member sticking straight out is sure to get multiple comments from your friends on Facebook and Weibo (sorry Grandma!).

After this hilarious introduction, a garden full of odd, sexual sculptures awaits. Erotic paintings and sex toys, all with English and Chinese captions, can be found inside several buildings on the tour, along with the always-fascinating descriptions of foot binding and marriage customs. After several years in China, I was surprised and pleased to see that the exhibit and posters presented homosexuality in a positive light.

Thanks to sociology Professor Liu Dalin's collection, the Tongli Sex Museum is one of the more entertaining museums I have been to and one you won't forget, especially if you purchase a replica of the well-endowed statue that welcomes visitors in the gift shop. Though it may make your ayi blush, on a practical level, it makes a great bracelet holder!

According to the China Sex Museum website, they are available for meetings anytime, so why not book it for the next location for your annual company picnic? One caveat I will mention is that it was a bit awkward admiring ancient Chinese porn next to strangers.

Amber Mizerak is an editor for ChinaTravel.net. A sister site to Ctrip.com, China’s leading online travel service provider, ChinaTravel.net brings readers everything they need to know to enjoy their China adventure to the fullest.

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