Behind the public victory of the shutdown of the sex-themed park in Chongqing, some systemic problems still need our attention, says an article in Yangtze Evening News. Excerpt:

It is reported that the sex-themed park "Love Land" in Chongqing was torn down yesterday after being criticized by the public as "vulgar".

It is unbelievable that such a park should be built on the Foreigner Street, a posh area of Chongqing. Even if it had been completed, it would have provoked public criticism sooner or later.

It is the triumph of the media and netizens that the sex-themed park was eventually dismantled. However, this kind of solution cannot prevent a similar situation from happening again.

It is worth pondering why such a sex-themed park attracted the relevant authorities' attention only after it became an issue of media coverage.

The authorities in Chongqing explained that the park did not submit their proposal for scrutiny and approval before starting work on the project, which was an illegal construction.

However, the construction of this park is a long-term process, which was being done in broad daylight. It's hard to imagine that the authorities were totally unaware of it for such a long time. This shows that the authorities should take the initiative to carry out supervision rather than wait for such matters to come to attention by accident.

The further question is why the project owner, who definitely knew the process for submitting the scheme for scrutiny and approval, dared to start the construction without going through due procedure.

Despite the "official answer" trying to justify why work had been going on in the park, the public sensed something wrong.

(China Daily May 19, 2009)