Just in from a submission to Youku: Two days ago, a pre-op transsexual went on a one-(wo)man demonstration on the streets of Shenzhen, holding a placard that says, "I want a sex change, even if it means death!" (我要变性！死了都要变!) She attracted a huge crowd around her before she was eventually led away by someone from the public security bureau it seems.

Despite increasing openness, transsexuals have not had it easy in China. If this report dated this time last year is anything to go by, only about 1,000 transsexuals have undergone the operation, and that's just a tiny fraction of the 400,000 transsexuals that experts estimate China has. As many as 90 percent of them commit suicide when their appeal to have a sex change is turned down.

Sex change first received media spotlight in 1995 when dance choreographer Jin Xing underwent sex change to become a woman. She was an army colonel dancing with the People's Liberation Army dance troupe. Now arguably the most celebrated face of Chinese modern dance, Jin is now enjoying her life as a woman, married to a German man and has three adopted children.