Fascinated Westerners Read Ancient Sex Traditions in Chinese Novels

Many readers from the West are now fascinated by the rise of many Chinese novels and are attracted to the magic of romance depicted in these works of fiction.

These readers are getting in the groove of reading Chinese novels and are interested in the ancient traditions of courtship and sex.

One of these readers is a 24-year-old woman named Merissa, an American. She has been reading a Chinese novel about a former emperor and his concubine.

She said, "I like how the author and the translator depict the love scenes between the characters. Every kiss and every interaction between the two characters is beautifully written."

"The language used to describe the love scenes is subtle compared to some Western romance novels, but somehow, it's more romantic and graceful and leaves more room for imagination compared to the Western ones," she added.

Goodreads.com has increased recommended titles to 431 under the category of "romance books with Asian love interests." Many readers are asking for more.

One of the popular titles is "The Plum in the Golden Vase," which is a novel written during the Ming Dynasty by Jing Ping Mei. The same book received good reviews on Amazon.com.

Merissa read this novel as well after reading "Fifty Shades of Grey."

"I was told that it's like the Chinese version of the Kama Sutra, and I was prepared for a book of smut and bedroom acrobatics, like the typical Western wham bam stuff, but it was far more than that," Merrisa said.

The young American was fascinated by the culture and traditions during the age of Confucius as well as the festivals during the Ming Dynasty.

Among modern fiction writers, author Mai Jia received good reviews for his novel "Decoded." The book was translated into English by Olivia Milburn and Christopher Payne.

The book review from "The Economist" called Mr. Mai as the "Dan Brown of China."

The review also said, "This novel has the expansive sweep of Gabriel García Márquez's magical realism."