He found he liked handsome, mature, bearded men. He would sit on a bench quietly to watch every man passing by and introduce himself recklessly to those who were his type. He began to go to a local park, well-known for being a gathering place for gay men. In his early teens, Qu couldn't deny his feelings any longer. While all the other boys gathered together to talk about girls, he preferred to sit in the corner looking at handsome men. Qu found he was attracted to the same sex as early as his childhood.
He had a wife, whom he married under heavy social pressure, but the two might as well be strangers even though they lived under one roof for 30 years. Like many other gay men in China, 72-year-old Qu Bizhi, who lives in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou has lived a suppressed life all his life.