Eye on Gay Shanghai: Gay Swim Teams and Other Olympic Sports

In honor of the Beijing Olympics, Shanghai’s #1 fag hag scoured the city for info on gay sports. Everyone knows a large gay contingent can be found daily at our most popular gyms. However, did you realize Shanghai also hosts gay swimming (we’re sure Michael Phelps or Zhang Lin are welcome), badminton, table tennis, volleyball and even kungfu!

Rainbow League is the fantastic association that organizes many of the gay sports clubs in Shanghai (more info available in Chinese here). They were created about one year ago as a splinter group of the national gay organization, Sunhomo. Currently, Rainbow League boasts about 700 members and offers a mix of athletic and cultural activities.

Rio, the friendly co-founder, said they started the organization so that gay people have a venue to make friends and play sports. Although for many participants, their families are unaware they are homosexual, they feel comfortable joining in gay sporting activities. Rio says, "Generally, outsiders don't realize it's a gay club, but they are curious as to why there are only males!" Predominantly Chinese men, about 10% of the members are foreigners and there is a mix of gay, straight, and bisexuals.

For reasons that many of us can guess, the most popular activity is the swimming club. The groups meet throughout the year and in five different areas of Shanghai. The most popular faction is the Huangpu team that gathers at a middle school pool near People’s Square. They have up to 70 attendees in one night! The Rainbow League’s swim teams even won three bronze medals at a mixed gay and straight swim competition in August. Even if you’re not an Olympic athlete, you can still join as they offer free coaching.