Chinese women are given tutorials on sex in a hotel room in Shanghai.

Reuters reports that Ma Li has been tutoring small groups of Chinese women on the forbidden topic in the country in a Shanghai hotel room. The 2-day tutorials cost $410 (2,500 yuan) which is equal to the 50 per cent of the average monthly wages in the city. Even though the tutorials are not so cheap, the number of women signing up for the tutorial has been rising consistently. Groups of women are signing up for similar tutorials on psychology, anatomy and intimacy techniques in other cities as well.

Sophia Hu was talking to Reuters as she expressed her lack of sex education. She had a misconception that adult males have similar bodies like baby boys, she said. Ms Hu, 30, is a lawyer who wished to understand herself as well as sexual realities. She is yet to have a sexual encounter. However, she believes that she is going to be less afraid and more relaxed when she has sex.

Ma Li has been certified by the World Association of Sex Coaches which is based in the U.S. She prefers having a candid approach to sex to encourage self-assurance. She uses explicit oral sex videos for theory and fruits with appropriate shapes for practical lessons. She also prefers avoiding popular suggestions widely available in magazines. She stays away from dull suggestions like lighting a candle for setting the mood. The tutorials, which began in January, are generally booked weeks before, Li said to Reuters.

China's puritan approach toward sex may have its roots in the Communist Party empowerment in 1949. A conservative attitude about sex was allegedly preached by the political party in power. Nevertheless, China has been influenced otherwise as it is exposed to foreign cultures because of more number of overseas travel.

Ms Li said that several Chinese parents prefer talking about sex only to scaremonger. They would rather encourage abstinence, she said. One of her students informed her that she had been told by her mother that having sex was like being shot by a gun. Several people in China grow up believing that sex is either dangerous or shameful, Ms Li said.