The Rules: No Pics, No Drugs, No Judgments

BEIJING, May 8, 2008 — -- Being openly gay in China is one of the country's biggest taboos, but you wouldn't know it stepping into Destination, Beijing's hottest gay club.

Nicknamed "Desperation," this dance club and lounge, with its thumping bass, beautiful people, flowing cocktails and bouncing hydraulic dance floor -- seems at first like a typical weekend hot spot .

But it's far from the usual Chinese nightclub.

While there would be nothing remarkable about Destination in the United States, here the club stands apart. Self-labeled "Beijing's finest bar venue for the alternative crowd," Destination is often the only place in Beijing where young gay men can reveal their true selves.

And in order for them to feel safe, two basic rules are posted prominently on every wall: no photography, and no drugs.

Emilio Liu, a Chinese undergraduate student in Beijing, says Destination is his place to not only relax and dance, but to find himself.

"I'm still trying to figure it all out," he said on a Friday night at the club. "I'm not sure what I am, but I know I'm not straight. Maybe bi, maybe gay. So I come here to hang out and meet people."

Declining to give his name, a 23-year-old accountant for Pricewaterhouse Coopers comes to Destination every weekend because of its open and comfortable atmosphere. He first checked out the club when he moved from his hometown of Chongqing, an inland city in south central China, to attend college in Beijing.

"Everyone's the same here. Everyone's gay. Sure, we go to mainstream clubs and bars too, but Destination is a more natural setting for us," he said. "And the dancing is great."

Destination has enjoyed relatively unfettered business in Beijing. Its clientele is overwhelmingly male; less than 5 percent of its customers are women.

China's gay and lesbian population is, by some unofficial estimates, between 30 million and 50 million. But much of this population stays in the closet.

Many gay and lesbian Chinese say that, more than the government, traditional family values and social conservatism have discouraged them from disclosing their sexual orientation.