SHANGHAI, Aug. 11 -- SEX is no longer a taboo subject in China - especially not in the Shanghai International Exhibition Center yesterday when the three-day Fourth China International Adult Toys and Reproductive Health Exhibition opened.

About 9,000 people visited yesterday's exhibition in Hongqiao and more are expected over the weekend.

To attract customers, the exhibitors spare no efforts. Shaki Sex Toys, one of the China's largest adult toy producers from Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, has installed a huge stone penis fountain and its booth is decorated with red lanterns, wooden bridges and pavilions.

Bai Zhicheng, the company's development department manager, said the decor is intended to link Chinese tradition and culture with the products.

Stefan Krook, president of Fame-X Entertainment Co in Sweden, was busy looking for Chinese manufacturers who could provide high quality wares at a reasonable price.

"A lot of the sex products I bought in Europe are from China which is now a major supplier to the world," he said.

According to the China International Exhibition Center Group Corporation, one of the organizers, 200-plus adult toy manufacturers from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan are involved in the sex expo.

"We want to boost the domestic adult toy industry and promote healthy attitudes towards sex," said William Lin, the manager of the corporation's Shanghai branch.

As well as modern products, an exhibition of some 400 items from the Ancient Sex Museum provide a highlight, displaying ancient attitudes to sex and pregnancy.

The items include snuff bottles with erotic paintings, penis shapes in jade or bronze and models of female sex organs.

Some visitors were surprised by Chinese ancients' understanding on sex.

"We have been thinking that sex is dirty and should not be spoken about. It's time to rethink our attitudes. This show is a good way for us to learn Chinese culture," said a woman identified as Fu.

Liu Dalin, a noted Chinese expert on sex culture and curator of the museum in Tongli, Jiangsu Province, said Chinese attitudes toward sex are changing, the result of the country's booming economy and modern thinking. He was honored as one of the six influential people that have led Chinese people towards happiness by Time magazine in 1990.

Foreign visitors are also visiting the exhibition either for business or for fun.

Mireille Buiel, a tourist from the Netherlands, was glad that China is opening its mind about sex. "It's new to China and it will get better and better. Still, it takes time," she said.