Chinese-style gay socializing: gay men in their 20s-40s (and now a few lesbians) sit around a big dinner table holding 12-15 people. Stiff conversations gradually become more interesting as the dishes arrive (cold then hot), and as the guests get to know each other. Little alcohol is consumed---it's mostly cola or sprite, and occasionally a few bottles of beer which guests use to toast each other. An emcee chatters away (though few of us foreigners can understand its high speed delivery), introducing a few performances of uneven quality. If you follow the conversation at the table much will be high school-like gossip about who's dating who. Those you've been with will rarely acknowlege this in public. For better or worse, this is the homegrown way of hooking up, that happens at a glacial speed of several weeks.

Sound interesting? Try some this Saturday, March 28, as the Rainbow League, a gay men's social organization with several gay sports and cultural groups founded after the split up of Sunhomo, celebrates its first year. It now has two active gay swimming teams, a volleyball team, two badminton groups, a gay English Corner, a new gay & lesbian choir, a loosely affiliated Chinese opera group (with a subgroup for Chinese dating across the generations--- "xizhaoqun"), several gay karaoke groups, and other smaller groups. Very interesting, very Chinese. It's not Eddy's or Shanghai Studio.