1950s-60s: It was a time when women wearing high-heeled shoes and applying lipstick were severely criticized as being indecent. Remaining a virgin until marriage was widely advocated and a girl who had sex before marriage was a stain on a family's reputation.

- From "Women and Sexuality in China" by Harriet Evans (1996).

1970s: Around 1978, our work unit informed us of Premier Deng Xiaoping's edict that anyone caught listening to the Taiwanese singer Deng Lijun (Teresa Teng, famous for her erotic songs) would be sentenced to five years in jail.

- From "Red Dust" by Ma Jian.

1980s: Around 1985, a nationwide craze in sex studies began in China following the publication of two books - "Sex Knowledge Manual" by Ruan Fangbin and "Sex Medicine" by Wu Jieping. The craze for studying sexuality, regarded as a time of enlightenment for sex in China, lasted until the mid-1990s.

- From "Tracks in Chinese People's Changing Sexual Attitudes" by Pan Suiming

1990s: "When I was taking my pre-marital check-up (in 1992), I heard doctors saying that many women coming for the check-up were not virgins," said a woman identified as Song. It was an era when extra-marital affairs, once sharply criticized, were being less and less frowned upon and sex without the marriage bond was more frequent. (Star News)