“They refused to show up at the opening for fear of media exposure and potential discrimination,” he said.Ĭhina has a growing AIDS problem with an estimated 740,000 HIV infections, the Health Ministry has said. The bar, which receives government funding from the health bureau in Yunnan province’s Dali town, was slated to open Tuesday to mark World AIDS Day, the China Daily reported.īut the intense media attention that greeted the announcement of its opening kept customers away, Zhang Jianbo, the bar’s owner and a local AIDS doctor in Dali, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
A new bar in southwestern China aimed at educating gay men about AIDS stayed conspicuously empty during its official opening as potential customers shunned the spotlight, state media said Wednesday.
