As one of the handful of gay men who are daring to speak openly in order to promote health awareness among the gay population on the Chinese mainland - estimated at 5-10 million - Xiao said he felt obliged to help others.

"I must do something," Xiao said. "Ignorance and misconceptions may precipitate a health crisis in the gay community. I do not want to let the outsiders associate us with AIDS."

Guest speaker Chung To from Chi Heng Foundation in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region teaches a homosexuality class in Fudan University. [China Daily]

Xiao's team members voluntarily raised funds themselves for relevant publicity activities, and sometimes their activities receive financial support from relevant institutions.

When Xiao set out to build his volunteer team in May last year, he met a "kindly elderly brother" on the Internet, Shi Wei, who is the head of Chaoyang District Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC).

"We talked for a whole day on the Internet," Xiao said. "He encouraged me to work with his centre, which was also planning to carry out intervention among the gay community.

"Through talking, I could feel that Shi really wanted to do something for us. We share the same goal: To help gay men live healthy lives. So, I joined him."

Afterwards, Xiao and his volunteers helped Shi's centre carry out an AIDS epidemic survey among the hard-to-reach gay community in Beijing.

Throughout the second half of last year, Xiao and his members visited almost every place in Beijing where gay men were believed to gather, such as bars, saunas and parks. They encouraged nearly 600 men to have free HIV tests and consultations.

"The result made me heavy-hearted," Xiao said, on learning that more than 3 per cent of the men tested were found to be HIV positive. And among those older than 40, the rate was about 15 per cent.

"These figures are quite astonishing, even though they may not exactly reflect reality, as the sample is relatively small," Xiao said.

About half of the respondents said they had had fewer than 10 sexual partners; nearly 250 gay men had from 10 and 100 partners; and 60 others admitted having had intercourse with more than 100 partners.

About 30 per cent of the men said they had also had sex with women. Only 20 per cent said they use condoms every time they have sex, and another 20 per cent admitted that they have never used condoms.

"We need to create an atmosphere in which risks can be openly discussed and protective action can be adopted," Xiao said.

"Despite the gloomy situation, it is never too late to take action. I have so many friends, and we are working together."

Besides the Chaoyang CDC, Xiao has begun working with most of the city's gay entertainment businesses, several medical research institutions and community hospitals, and a Guilin-based condom manufacturer, which provides condoms and lubricant to his team for distribution.

Xiao also mentioned his partner: "He gives me great support. He is a computer specialist and quite busy at his company, but every night after work and every weekend, he always accompanies me to areas with high concentrations of gay men to distribute condoms and pamphlets advocating safe sex. I owe him a lot."

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