This is a brief podcast I created (with the help of a good friend) in which I discuss how the Internet has transformed the attitudes of millions of Chinese people in regard to sex. This is a topic I explore at length in my book Behind the Red Door: Sex in China, which started shipping last week (finally). I hope you find it amusing and informative.

Podcast_Internet

Obviously there’s much more to be said about the Internet and sex in China, and the podcast is intended only to offer a snapshot of this immense subject. To find out more, please feel free to order the book. This is one of my favorite topics in the book.

It’s only two days from the release date, and you can now read a healthy excerpt from the book’s introduction over at the Shanghaiist. If the opening sentence doesn’t grab your attention what will?

Also, frequent commenter and popular blogger Just Recently has written a full review of the book. Sample:

When I started reading Richard Burger‘s debut book, Behind the Red Door – Sex in China, I became aware that I actually knew very little about the topic. I was aware of the pressure on Chinese colleagues of my age to get married and to have children, and I also got impressions on how the terms were being negotiated between children and parents – even marrying a partner from a different province is considered a flaw by some elders. But what makes Burger’s book particularly insightful is a review of how the outer edges of sexual behavior and identity in China “deviate” from family and social norms, and the troubles in coming to terms with these differences – or in living with them without coming to terms with them.

Please go there and read the rest. It’s a very balanced and generous review, not all glowing but always perceptive. I’m hoping to see more reviews and updates in the coming days and weeks. I can only hope they are this insightful.

You can now pre-order the Kindle version for $9.99 or the book itself, which is on sale at Amazon for $13.95. I’ll try not to spam with post after post with news about my book, but will share with you as the reviews come in. Thanks.

This interview offers an excellent overview of my book and what I was trying to achieve (if I say so myself). Note the graphic; those talismans were the way a lot of couples used to learn about sex in olden times when there was no sex education and no Internet. They were a gift from caring parents, to be used on one’s wedding night. I talk about prostitution from China’s earliest days to now, China’s shifting attitudes toward same-sex love, the Internet’s effects on sex in China, etc. Please check the interview out! You can also check out my book, and even buy a copy, here. And if you haven’t “Liked” my page on Facebook you can do it here. Thanks.

This was from several days ago, not sure how I missed it. Still worth a mention.

I was amazed when I saw this because if it’s true there are some awfully dumb Chinese officials and high school teachers (!) out there. If they want to participate in an orgy, don’t they know better than to take pictures of themselves? Unsurprisingly, this went super-viral on Weibo after an unknown party uploaded the photos.

Prominent politicians in China have been accused of participating in a sex orgy, after dozens of photos appeared on a microblogging site earlier this month featuring three naked men and two naked women in a hotel room.

The pictures, which were featured on Sina Weibo appear to show the Party secretary of Lujiang county in Anhui Province, Wang Minsheng, his deputy, Jiang Dabin, and the party’s youth leader at Hefei University, Wang Yu. Over 100 photos were uploaded by an unknown user.

The high-ranking Chinese officials are shown engaging in a hotel “sex party,” according to the (UK) Telegraph.

There’s a lesson here somewhere. In certain situations, all cameras need to be checked at the door.

Update: The New Yorker chimes in.