Eye on Gay Shanghai: Transvestites on Tongren Lu

Thursdays just became a great night to be “here and queer”, a fag hag or our male counterpart, a stag hag. As Shanghaiist reported earlier, Mint club has recently started a gay night once a week. Its the first predominately heterosexual bar to offer such an event, at least in the past three years that we can remember. It’s only been going on for three weeks, but the intimate spot is already packed with gay men and a strong representation from the lesbian community. And, as one gay friend exclaimed, most importantly … “It’s not the same men that go to Club Deep!”

This past week featured an appearance by two very special ladies, drag queens Gwen and Bling (see photo). Their website describes them as follows:

Gwen from Tempe is wanted in connection with the mysterious circumstances surrounding the deaths of her 1st and 3rd husbands…

Ms. Bling Bling is wanted on three continents and one sub-continent for grand theft auto, arms dealing, human trafficking and sodomy…

Together they are SUPERSTAR FUGITIVES on the run in five inch heels.

The dynamic duo arrived fashionably late on Thursday, posing for pictures and mingling with the crowd before performing a quick show. Unluckily, due to Shanghaiist’s short stature, we were unable to witness much of the performance, except what we could glimpse between broad shoulders. However, there are some photos here.

This wasn’t the first time transvestites have emerged onto the Shanghai scene. Earlier this year, three local “celebrities” in the gay community beat Gwen and Bling to it by dressing up in drag and heading out to Eddy’s Bar. Thanks to help from a professional make-up artist and a great costume coordinator, they looked pretty hot, too! Although, Shanghaiist does have a copy of the video that documents the transformation of the young lads into lovely ladies of the night, we’ve been sworn to keep it confidential!

Finally, the most recent transvestite sighting, after Thursday’s event, was at Club Deep last Friday. The evening was graced by two Southeast Asian ladyboys, who did not perform, but nonetheless, seemed to be earning a lot of money. We were wondering if they were the same Thai trannies mentioned earlier this year on Shanghaiist.

In tribute to transexuals everywhere, Shanghaiist and some gay friends want to do a showing of the classic movie, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, sometime soon at a bar with a movie screen. Email shanghaifaghag at gmail.com if you want an invite!

All this talk of drag queens makes us think we could have our theme for the next Shanghaiist party!

Other brief gay news ...

• Next Saturday will feature a “Boys with Toys” event where people are to bring their favorite toy or dress as their most beloved cartoon hero. Love that picture, though it’s a bit kinky!
• Some of you may have heard rumors that Home Bar was going to have their soft opening last week ... regrettably, the gossip didn’t come to fruition. Shanghaiist is keeping her fingers crossed that there will be no more problems with the roof or any other vital part of the building’s structure and dreams of an opening party in early September when the garden can still be enjoyed.
• In Bejing, a gay website has recently been started by the Chinese government. The site promotes HIV/AIDS awareness and has a chatroom for homosexuals to talk about their feelings. Shanghaiist is not sure how many gay men want to share their deepest, darkest thoughts on a website where the government is the webmaster, but if you are interested, you can check out this article to learn more.

Photo from gwenandbling.