颜射 yánshè (yen shuh)

Facial (cum in face). Literally “face eject.” A term from Japanese porn (the characters are the same in Japanese).

Sexual positions

传教士式 chuánjiàoshì shì (chren jow shih shih)

Missionary. A literal translation from the English.

小狗式 xiǎogǒu shì (shyaow go shih), or less commonly 狗爬式 gǒupá shì (go pah shih)

Doggie-style.

侧进式 cè jìn shì (tsuh gene shih)

Spooning. Literally “enter from one side.”

女上男下式 nǚ shàng nán xià shì (nee shahng nahn shah shih)

Cowgirl. Literally “woman on top, man underneath.”

仙姑划船 xiāngū huáchuán (shin goo hwah chwun)

Cowgirl. Literally “goddess rowing the boat.”

女上男下变式 nǚ shàng nán xià biàn shì (nee shahng nahn shah byinn shih)

Reverse cowgirl. Literally “woman on top, man underneath, switched.”

莲花坐式 liánhuā zuò shì (lyinn hwa dzwuh shih)

Lotus position.

69 式 liù jiǔ shì (lew joe shih-liù rhymes with “ew”)

Sixty-nine.

Alternative types of sex

电话性爱 diànhuà xìng’ài (dyinn hwa shing aye)

Phone sex.

网络性爱 wǎngluò xìng’ài (wahng lwuh shing aye)

Internet sex.

三人行 sān rén xíng (sahn ren sheeng)

Threesome. Literally “three people walking,” a takeoff on a famous Confucian saying: “三人行, 必有我师也” “Sān rén xíng, bì yǒu wǒ shī yě” (sahn ren sheeng, bee yow uh shih yeh):

“Among any three people walking together, there is always one you can learn from.”

三 P / 3P sān P (sahn P)

Threesome. Literally “three P.” The P stands for “people” or “person.”

群交 qún jiāo (chreen jow)

Group sex, orgy.

拳插 quán chā (chren cha)

Fisting. Literally “fist inserts.”

恋物癖 liàn wù pì (lyinn oo pee)

Fetish. Literally “love thing hobby.”

恋足癖 liàn zú pì (lyinn dzoo pee)

Foot fetish.

恋声癖 liàn shēng pì (lyinn shung pee)

Sound fetish.

恋兽癖 liàn shòu pì (lyinn show pee)

Bestiality.

恋鞋癖 liàn xié pì (lyinn shyih pee)

Shoe fetish.

恋尸癖 liàn shī pì (lyinn shih pee)

Necrophilia.

恋袜癖 liàn wà pì (lyinn wah pee)

Sock or stocking fetish. Literally “loving socks hobby” or “love stockings habit.”

恋手癖 liàn shǒu pì (lyinn show pee)

Hand fetish.

恋乳癖 liàn rǔ pì (lyinn roo pee)

Breast fetish.

恋衣癖 liàn yī pì (lyinn ee pee)

Clothing fetish.

虐恋 nüè liàn (nyreh lyinn)

S-M, sadomasochism. Literally “cruel love.”

SM 女 SM nǚ (“SM” nee)

Dominatrix. Literally “S-M woman.”

打屁股 dǎ pìgu (dah pee goo)

Spanking.

Menstruation

月经 yuèjīng (yreh jing)

Menstruation. Literally “monthly passing.”

月事 yuèshì (yreh shih)

Period, menstruation. Literally “moon thing” or “monthly matters.”

大姨妈 dàyímā (dah ee ma)

Auntie. A euphemism for “period.”

老朋友 lǎopéngyou (laow pung yo)

Euphemism for “period.” Literally “old friend.” Thus, to say you’re having your period you would say 我老朋友来了 wǒ lǎopéngyou lái le (wuh laow pung yo lie luh): “My old friend has arrived.” Mainly used in southern China and Taiwan.

倒霉 dǎoméi (dow may)

Literally “have bad luck.” A euphemism for one’s period. More common in northern China.

那个 nèigè (nay guh)

Another euphemism that literally means “that.” Usages include 我有那个 wǒ yǒu nèigè (wuh yo nay guh), “I have that,” and “I’ve got you know what.”

Miscellaneous

叫春 jiàochūn (jow chren)

Moan (in a sexual context). 叫 jiào (jow) means “yell” or “call,” and 春 chūn (chren) means “love” or “life.” This is also the term for a female cat howling when it’s in heat.

叫床 jiàochuáng (jow chwahng)

Moan (in a sexual context). Literally “call bed” or “yell bed.”

石女 shí nǚ (shih nee)

Frigid. Literally “stone woman.” Can also refer to someone unable to have sex for congenital reasons, after a character in a famous Chinese opera, The Peony Pavilion, whose hymen is hard as stone.

阳萎 yángwěi (yahng way)

Impotent. Amusingly, this is also what Chinese sports fans yell at the opposing team during sports matches.

钟点房 zhōng diǎn fáng (johng dyinn fahng)

A hotel where you can rent rooms by the hour.

In 1988 the prominent sexologist Richard Green gave a lecture at Peking Union Medical College, the top medical school in China, and was famously told by several physicians in the audience that “there are no homosexuals in China.” Homosexuality had been persecuted since 1949 and throughout the Cultural Revolution, to the point of total invisibility, and at the time Green gave his lecture, just ten years after the end of that dark time, gays and lesbians in China were only beginning to emerge from underground.

The government finally began to acknowledge homosexuality in 1990, partly because it realized that it needed to engage the gay community in order to deal with the rising AIDS crisis, and since then, depending on the political atmosphere, official acceptance of gays has waxed and waned.

The late 1980s had already seen the first official media reports about isolated incidents of same-sex couples being allowed to live a married life. In 1997 “hooliganism,” an umbrella term understood to include homosexual behavior (there was never any explicit law dealing with homosexuality), was dropped from the penal code. In 2000 openly gay and lesbian people appeared on TV in China for the first time, and in 2001 China officially took homosexuality off its list of mental disorders. Today you can see same-sex couples openly holding hands at the mall (at least in the biggest cities); the atmosphere in any gay club, ABBA and all, feels utterly carefree; and the lesbian sexual orientation of at least two of the biggest pop singers in China is an almost laugh-ably open secret.

On the other hand, the movie Brokeback Mountain was rejected for screening in mainland China despite director Ang Lee’s celebrity status in the country, gay couples from abroad are no longer allowed to adopt Chinese babies, and after the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake, gays and lesbians were among the groups barred from donating blood to help victims.

Duì shí

The ironic thing about official and social ambivalence toward gays is that China in fact has a centuries-long tradition of homosexuality, which, while sometimes lampooned, was generally at least tolerated and at times even extolled. Many scholars believe that it was the first arrival of westerners into China toward the end of the Qing dynasty, in the mid to late nineteenth century, that first introduced the idea of homosexuality as something “wrong” and an aberrant, pathological condition.