Govt-backed gay bar fails to attract customers

The idea was simple: Set up a bar to attract gay men and then use it to distribute information on AIDS/HIV prevention.

The media loved the idea - but all the attention kept the gay men away.

"They (gay men) refused to show up at the opening for fear of media exposure and potential discrimination," said Zhang Jianbo, the bar's founder and a local AIDS doctor in Dali, Yunnan province.