Fifty-year-old Wen Jingfeng has been interviewed many times by Chinese and foreign media, but he still feels self-conscious posing for pictures.

However, the Beijinger is completely relaxed talking about his shop: Beijing Adam & Eve Health Centre – the first adult shop in the Chinese mainland, founded in 1993.

Located on East Fuchengmen Road in Beijing’s Xicheng district, the 20-square-metre shop sells contraceptives, pregnancy tests, aphrodisiacs and sex toys.

The adult products are displayed in showcases. Two sales women dressed in white gowns are polite, but leave customers to choose products on their own.

In the 1990s, Wen’s shop was described as "a symbol of China’s opening and reforms." He was considered more of a celebrity than a businessman.

Recently, he published Forbidden Fruit 1993, My sex shop and I, narrating his experiences over the past decade-and-a-half.

"I will keep on doing the business, and hopefully, develop Adam & Eve into a famous and long-standing brand," says Wen.

In the 1980s, when China was experiencing profound economic reforms, Wen quit his job at a governmental institute to start his own business. Full of ideas, the young man opened various shops, including ones for weight-loss and left-handed products, but none succeeded.

One evening in 1991 he was watching a French film in which a "sex shop" logo appeared in the backdrop.

Wen was confused. "What can a ‘sex shop’ sell?" he wondered.

Once he figured it out, the enterprising young man thought: "Why don’t I open a ‘sex shop’ in China?"

His friends and relatives thought he was crazy. "No one has opened such a shop in China. It was totally risky, both commercially and culturally," says Wen. "It was forbidden ground."

In the early 1990s, sex was a sensitive topic in the conservative society. Classic novels such as Jin Ping Mei – a 16th-century work that contains much description of sexual life between Ximen Qing and his three concubines – were strictly banned. Daring young men and women who walked in pairs on the street would solicit angry stares.

To open a "sex shop" was a challenging idea, but Wen saw a potential business.

"Sex is a normal thing, just like when you feel thirsty, you drink water. Why should we shy away from our basic needs?"

Opening a sex shop was no easy feat. Wen couldn’t even find his business a foothold – potential landlords thought he was a "hooligan."

But, luckily, Wen was not the only person who believed the public should have a rational attitude toward sex.

In 1992, under great pressure from his colleagues, Du Ruyu, dean of the Peking University People’s Hospital, decided to lend a room to Wen near the gate of the hospital.

"The opening of the adult shop could suggest to the public that sex was a natural thing instead of a dirty taboo," recalls Du, now 72.

On Jan. 8, 1993, Beijing Adam & Eve finally opened.

"I was so excited to see what would happen next, like a student waiting for their exam result," Wen recalls.

Wen kept the door open in the winter, looking for his first customer. But, in the next two weeks, no one except a beggar stepped in.

On the 16th day, a whistling young man wandered in. As soon as he realized what the shop was selling, he stopped whistling and his face turned red.

The young man did end up, however, buying a box of condoms for $1.37.

After a local newspaper reported the opening of Wen’s shop in just three sentences, national and Western media streamed into the small store. Curious people packed the street to see the shop.

"Overnight, I became a celebrity. Some said I was a liberator and pioneer, and some accused me of being nasty. I just placed myself as a different businessman," says Wen.

Customers from all over the country poured in. As the business thrived, Wen noticed particular social habits of his patrons. Some shy customers wore sunglasses while shopping and ran out before getting their change. Eventually, more people came to select products and even consulted with sales staff, Wen says.

"If I had filmed all the customers, the documentary would present dramatic changes of people’s attitudes over the past 15 years," Wen says.

Since 1994, hundreds of adult shops have opened in Beijing, said Wen.

"It become an usual shop for people."