As Chinese society continues to push forward with its process of opening up, attitudes towards homosexuality are changing accordingly. While this undeniable expansion has allowed in select rays of sunlight, great swaths remain cloaked in various shades of grey.
By Huang Aihe
In a nook of Beijing’s Yuan Dadu Ruins Park, between the flowing waters and the gently curved hills, a strip of green land stretches out into a place of blended colors. It is here, far away from the rowdiness of the city that members of Beijing’s gay community come to meet.
Zhu Yu, a registered volunteer with the Hong Kong based Chi Heng Foundation, regularly joins the group to hand out free condoms and raise awareness of HIV. According to Zhu, the meeting spot can attract as many as one to two hundred people on warm evenings.
For the most part, Zhu’s offers of free condoms are politely received, but among a minority of men gathered at Yuan Dadu, such incursions, despite Zhu’s obvious good intentions, are decidedly unwelcome. For Zhu, the refusals are symptomatic of a wider sense of insecurity.
Under the darkening sky, the dense bushes are an appropriate shield for those that wish to remain hidden. It is no wonder then, that the men gathered often refer to it as a desirable place for “419” – the subtly screened code for “a one night stand”.
East Palace West Palace
Yuan Dadu Ruins Park has been the favored meeting spot of Beijing’s gay community since early 2005. Before then, the first place to hold similar social events was Beijing’s Dongdan Park.
“Dong Gong,” East Palace, and “Xi Gong,” West Palace, are references to the two sides of the Tiananmen Gate and the public toilets beside Zhongshan Park and the Worker’s Cultural Palace. As the social climate eased in the early 1980’s, young people began to take an interest in what was then referred to as “love spots” – designated public hang outs where like-minded young people could meet potential romantic partners. These spots were later adopted by the homosexual community.
However, the location was too close to Tiananmen – one of the capital’s most popular tourist spots, and was quickly discovered by the local police. With their meeting spots closed off, the community moved to the lesser known areas of Taijichang Ertiao and Dongdan Park.
Now, most of the gay men meeting in Dongdan are from areas outside of Beijing, while local gays have migrated to places such as Yuan Dadu Ruins Park. An insider revealed that gatherings like these are also held on the west side of the city, in areas around Shijingshan and Sanlihe.
During a recent trip on March 8 to the Yuan Dadu Ruins Park, the only sign of a police presence was a nearby squad car parked silently by the entrance to the park, its blue siren light occasionally illuminaing the roadside. The police remained in the car, seemingly not interested in what was going on inside the park.
The Bold and the Beautiful
While Beijing’s gay men enjoy themselves in the capital’s parks, the city’s gay women hold official events, such as the recent International Women’s Day at the well-known Maple Bar. On the night of March 7, in celebration of the international event, Maple Bar hosted a “Girl on Girl” party with the theme “The Bold and The Beautiful.”
With the admission fee set at 30 yuan (US4.4) per-person, Maple Bar attracts a large crowd and, by 10PM, the bar is crammed full. On first glance, Maple appears no different from most late-night drinking establishments, but on closer inspection there is one glaring difference, the patrons are almost exclusively young women.
The bar’s owner told News China that at its busiest times, Maple Bar is packed with over 300 guests. The doors are open to both homosexuals as well as heterosexuals, but not if they are male, “unless he is gay or is a friend of a female customer.”
Beijing lesbian bars and clubs add up to about three or four in total, compared to an estimated ten that accommodate homosexual men. And lesbians are not park visitors like gays. “I dare say that if there were no lesbian bars and websites to visit, the majority of Chinese female homosexuals would barely stand a chance in finding a true match,” commented Dr. Jiang Hui, a member of the NGO Aibai Culture & Education Center that was especially established to provide advisory information to the homosexual community.
The first homosexual bar in Beijing – “Half and Half” – was founded in 1995. Currently, Beijing’s “Destination” is the gay bar of choice for the city’s homosexual community. The security system at Destination is a lot tougher than at Maple Bar. Apart from the fact that the door charge is 60 yuan (US8.8), bag searches followed by a check-in are compulsory. It has been rumored that drugs have been known to be sold at gay bars, so the effort is necessary to minimize the chances of the bar being penalized.
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