HONG KONG -- The profound economic changes that China has undergone in the last quarter century have resulted not only in dramatic skyscrapers in all its major cities and a marked rise in the standard of living, but also in changing social mores, with attitudes today contrasting sharply with those of the strait-laced Chinese society of the past.

Still, it came as a shock to read of wife-swapping clubs in Chinese cities where well educated men and women, all consenting adults with responsible jobs, agreed to swap spouses in order to "spice up" boring marital lives. Even more surprising is that commentators do not uniformly condemn such practices.

However, Zhu Jianjun, a psychology professor in Beijing, said that "swinging" is natural in a society where people have been sexually repressed for a long time. Any relaxation in social mores, he said, would result in a small number of people going to the opposite extreme. As to whether the government should prosecute such people, he said that as long as nobody is hurt, "we should ignore it." Ultimately, he said, the pendulum will spring back to normal.