Such a feeling in Berlin. Only the view from the window shows that it is located 7,400 kilometers to the east, on the 21st floor of a barren residential apartment in the south -west of China.
The club is called Tag (short for another galaxy). In addition to the sign with a thumb on the metal table, there are no signs of its existence at the entrance to the building. But the club does not need any advertisements. The day is known around the world in the technical scene.
DJs, as from the Berlin collective male sauna, have already been put here. Visitors include foreign tourists such as local residents. In addition to the bouncers dressed as a demonic angel, a poster that is atypical for China is: “We strive to create an environment where each time it is welcome and freely express the topic.” But this will probably not be used for a long time.
Despite the fact that I lived in China for almost 12 years, I visited Chendu, the capital of the Sichuan province for the first time in 2023, shortly after Pandemia. Since then, he went to this city again and again. This is noticeably different from most Chinese cities. This is mainly from people.
Everyday life in Canddu is slower, more relaxed. Many tea houses, street cafes and restaurants are already filled at the beginning of the day. Especially in the area of Yulina. Most of the guests here are young, stylishly dressed, amazingly tattooed, to ride a skateboard, stuck at hand, ordering a latte with ice.
Work from 9 to 9 for 6 days a week
996 Working culture, in which many young, highly qualified Chinese work from 9:00 to 21:00, 6 days a week high pressure and strong competition only for a limited number of jobs to be a foreign concept here. In the rest of the country, people like to express that people do not work in Chendu.
The city is located 1800 kilometers from the political center of Beijing. For centuries, the city, which, despite its peripheral situation, was extracted from many wars in the east of the country. The favorable location and wealth of the city attracted migrants from all over China.
Including many intellectuals and ethnic minorities that have made a great contribution to the variety of the city and the openness of people. Even today, many atticers come – from 2010 to 2020 – 5.82 million. Only Shenzhen and Guangzhou grew more. But only Chenddu is known by the nickname Gaida, the capital of gays.
“Nowhere in China you can not be as open as here,” Minghao tells me (the name has changed). The actor, the director and his friend take me to the commercial pose of the gay club. K-Pop runs in a pose that evening. Almost everywhere there are young, slender men with colored hair and narrow jeans at tables and drunk.
“Most of them do not come from Chendu,” Minghao tells me. “Many of them add migrants or tourists from neighboring provinces who can completely live their sexuality here for the first time.”
Not only gays are moving to Chenddu. Again and again I heard that more artists are drawn in particular from the end of the pandemic. The main reasons are low rental prices and a strong art scene. The relatively free atmosphere of the city is also mentioned. I could experience it by himself in the fall of 2024, when I shot a short film in Cunde.
It was about a foreign bicycle package and old Sichuans, who came to the conclusion about friendship. For four days we were crossed throughout the city with a large team, which also had several foreigners. We never stopped and did not ask to make our permission to shoot. “We could never have taken off so easily and are untouched in Beijing in life,” our director told me.
During my last trip to Cand in May, I am sitting with Minghao in a bar, where vintage cameras, records and clothes are also sold. Our conversation is interrupted from the WeChat announcement: after 11 years, a day should be closed for the next weekend.
Club tag is not the only contact contact for the changduus underground scene, which was supposed to be closed in recent years. Fankitown, a corner pub with a dance floor nearby, has not existed since 2024.
Funkytown has the legendary status in Chend, in particular, thanks to the documentary film “The Last Year of Darkness”. The documentary of the US director Ben Mallinksson pursues the life of various characters in the underground scene of Cand, including the performer of Drag Yihao and the Russian techno-dj Gennady. Fankitown and his wild breeds are in the spotlight. The day also takes place in the film.
LGBTK is made invisible
A documentary, which was mainly created before and during the pandemic, in the visible one, recorded the golden age of the stage and is very popular among Chinese filmmakers – although you can only access the VPN in China. When I ask Minghao if there is a chanddu that is shown in the film, the actor still exists, the actor only says: “The film is a production of a common dream that has recently broken.”
As in the rest of the country, the threshold of the government’s tolerance in Chendu also falls compared to the alternative and LGBT scene. The Chinese government has been trying to actively contribute to masculinity among young Chinese since 2021. Means: no more pride. There are no female men on TV. Not openly politically devoted LGBT -organization.
It also applies to Chenddu. Events of drags, which can often be seen in the scenes of the “last year of darkness” with which commercial clubs of the city were previously opened, are now increasingly forced to find underground and are difficult to find for outsiders.
“The local government becomes strict in Chengd, but compared to other large Chinese cities, is still much better here,” says Yucheng (the name has changed), who worked on our set as a film producer. He moved to Chendu from the province of Xinjiang.
In the evening, he will take me to other bars and clubs that play techno and put on a clientele similar to the day. They are packed. Even commercial gay clubs, if they do not notice the police too much, continue to conduct a good business.
On Saturday afternoon, that is, the day of the day that should finally close, I am sitting with Minghao at the cinema at the premiere of the film of a friend’s film. Also among the audience: several members of the “Last Year of Darkness” team, including DJ Gennady and Ben Mullinkosson. After the premiere, we go to dinner as a larger group before we last release a day.
When food, it is assumed why the club is closed. It seems that there are many factors in the game, including bad business. Prices are no longer affordable for many regular visitors in a weakened Chinese economy. The club is rarely as complete as before.
But the main reason should be the pressure of the police. According to rumors, there is a new police chief from Beijing in the district. The club was supposed to be closed for 2 months, unusually early for Technoclub and bad for business. Now it should be closed very tightly, at least this is an official line.
But this is still not entirely clear: can the club open in a few months in the same place under a different name? Will the day just move? Or will it completely close? Much will be only in the next few months, reports to me in the club.
Doesn’t matter. This remains a special night. The club is more complete when I saw him before. Canadian DJ Priori hangs the phone. But even today, his set should end at 2 years. For everyone, in order to leave the club, it takes time. Many are hugged, for a short while bathing between more than 11 -year idle walls in nostalgia. Several tears fall on a sticky floor covered with tips.
At a party in a well -hidden sound recording store Yitong in a building next door, Gennadi leans against the railing outside. He hung in Chendu since 2014. Also on the same day. Nevertheless, he seems to be not particularly depressed.
Does he not bother that the scene, as you now know, will disappear soon? “Maybe nothing will happen at the level of the day,” he tells me. But this is also not so important for him. “These are people, not the places that make up the scene here. While Chengdu continues to attract the same people to the city, there will always be something. ”
