China is a country of enormous cities where queer life exists but can hardly be public. Cities such as Shanghai have small bar scenes, while Pride events, organisations and queer online content are increasingly restricted.
Legal situation: Homosexuality has not been a criminal offence since 1997 and has not been classed as a mental illness since 2001. There is no same-sex marriage or partnership and no statutory protection against discrimination. Queer content in the media and online is censored, LGBTQ organisations are under pressure, and in 2025 major gay dating apps were removed from the Chinese App Store on government orders.