Chinese women, mostly working, are lining up at a local hospital in Beijing to test a new medicine, which may help them achieve orgasm, signalling the traditionally conservative country's changing attitude to sex.

More than 200 female volunteers had registered by the end of August for clinical testing by the Beijing University No 1 Hospital of the 'female viagra' drug, the state-run China Radio International reported.

Organisers and doctors are apparently surprised by the number of women seeking the medicine.

All test-takers will report their experiences with the medicine in at least four face-to-face interviews with doctors and researchers. The women will give a final evaluation after a two-month trial.

Volunteers range from women in their early 20s to a 63-year-old housewife, but most are middle-aged career women.

After facing no problem in recruiting 400 volunteers, organizers realise that more Chinese women are paying attention to the quality of their sex lives, a long-time taboo in Chinese society.