'Evil' China sex park torn down: state media

A sex theme park in southwest China that featured giant genitals and a sex-technique workshop has been torn down after officials said it had an "evil influence" on society, state media said.

"Love Land" was due to open in Chongqing municipality ahead of China's national day on October 1, but it was ordered to close following an investigation by local authorities, the Global Times reported.

Besides displays on sex history and techniques, the park boasted a giant rotating statue of the lower portion of a nearly naked woman bent over at the waist.

The Global Times published a photo of workers in the Nan'an district of Chongqing pulling down the statue from a podium covered in flowers.

"The investigation determined the park's content was vulgar and that it was neither healthy nor educational," an official was quoted as saying.

"It had an evil influence on society and had to be torn down immediately."

He Shizhong, head of the municipal publicity department, said the company behind the park had "ignored its social responsibility and was interested only in profiting from sensationalism," the paper reported.

Images of the park's content found their way on the Internet last week and sparked widespread debate and controversy, with the majority of comment opposed to the site.

But some people expressed disappointment that the park had been torn down.

"The park was above board, so why was it pulled down? How can a country get powerful if it doesn't open its mind?" one person was quoted as saying in the newspaper.