People eager to bare all in public will have to wait to disrobe after local outrage shelved the opening of China's first nudist colony in Zhejiang Province. 

Originally scheduled to open to the public at a woodland park in Zhejiang province on Thursday, plans were put on hold after local residents exposed their disapproval of the risqué bathing area.

However, the park still plans to go ahead once regulations are sorted out, adding there are as many people who support the scheme as oppose it.

The planned nudist area lies along a river in a valley 80km from the eastern city of Hangzhou .

The park hit on the idea after a group of eight female university students stripped and went for a dip in the park's river, but were discovered by security guards.

The nude bathing area would be a groundbreaking concept since mainland beach resorts do not provide a place for nude swimming and sunbathing, which is common in Europe

(CRI.com August 10, 2004)