Asia Adult Expo 2017: how Hong Kong is hub for China’s sex toy industry
Trade buyers from across the world flocked to Hong Kong this week to see everything from cheap Chinese sex dolls to S&M whips and chains; consumers will get their hands on them at ‘eye opening’ event planned for spring 2018
Hong Kong is trade show central. Think of almost any product and it is probably made in factories in Shenzhen and Dongguan, then shipped all around the world by companies that find their suppliers at a giant Hong Kong fair.
However, most of the city’s trade shows are not like the Asia Adult Expo (AAE). From Tuesday this week until yesterday, the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre played host to the 10th edition of Asia’s largest assemblage of buzzing, vibrating and rubberised objects, as well as a staggering number of lifelike silicone sexual partners.
Hong Kong students are watching more porn, but know less about sex
The focus on sex dolls is new; just two years ago there were only a handful, according to event organisers. Then Japanese companies started to exhibit realistic, high-end dolls, initially with prices exceeding HK$100,000 (even at that price, a vendor in Guangzhou reported selling two of them a month). Now prices of Japanese dolls are down to about HK$20,000 (US$2,500), with Chinese-made equivalents available for HK$2,000. Profits margins can be up to 90 per cent.
The buzz at the expo’s accompanying forum, titled “The Future of Ultimate Pleasure”, was all about virtual reality and its role in the future of adult entertainment. Filmmakers and producers, including Michelle Flynn of Australian production company Lightsouthern and Gianluigi Perrone of Beijing’s Polyhedron VR Studio, expressed excitement about the possibilities for VR porn. Apart from providing more realistic experiences, it is believed the technology can provide greater immersion and that the potential, for example, to switch perspective could increase empathy and expand boundaries.
