![\"Swiss](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/d05865.webp\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Swiss drag queen faces Chinese repression <\/p>\n
SRF\/Samuel Emch <\/p>\n
In China, the space available for queer subcultures is shrinking. A drag artist from Zurich experienced this first-hand while on tour.\n<\/p>\n
Listen to the article <\/p>\n
Listening the article <\/p>\n
Toggle language selector <\/p>\n
English (US) <\/p>\n
English (British) <\/p>\n
Generated with artificial intelligence. <\/p>\n
This content was published on <\/p>\n
August 20, 2026 – 10:30\n<\/p>\n
In a small venue in Kunming, southern China, \u2018Soya the Cow\u2019 is rehearsing her act. The Zurich-based drag queen \u2013 or \u2018Drag Cow\u2019, as she calls herself \u2013 tackles themes including how humans treat animals and homosexuality in the animal kingdom. Whether her show can go ahead later that afternoon, however, is far from certain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tour started in Shanghai. But the performance there was cancelled,\u201d says performer Daniel Hellmann. The gallery\u2019s explanation was that it already needed the rooms for the next exhibition that day. \u201cThat sounds very much like an excuse, of course.\u201d Other venues also turned the drag queen down. She and her stage partner, \u2018Piano Prince\u2019, have to look for alternatives. \u201cIt really was like an obstacle course.\u201d<\/p>\n
Previous <\/p>\n
![\"Drag](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cd65e35.webp\")
<\/p>\n
Drag artist Daniel Hellmann received many last-minute cancellations during his tour of China. <\/p>\n
SRF\/Samuel Emch <\/p>\n
![\"Daniel](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/d4b689.webp\")
<\/p>\n
Even so, for the Swiss drag queen, life in China isn\u2019t all black and white. \u201cThere are many shades of grey,\u201d says Daniel Hellmann. <\/p>\n
SRF\/Samuel Emch <\/p>\n
Next <\/p>\n
Venues that had originally been booked suddenly no longer wanted \u2018Soya the Cow\u2019 on their stages. This was also the case in Kunming, Zurich\u2019s twin city. The organisers there cited a phone call from the police as the reason for the cancellation.<\/p>\n
The crew found an alternative venue. \u201cBut that one pulled out too, and then things were really up in the air. Can we even put on the show anywhere at all?\u201d says Hellmann.<\/p>\n
Alongside repression, there is support<\/p>\n
The Swiss drag queen is repeatedly confronted with contradictions on her journey through China. \u201cI had to laugh out loud. After all these problems, for example, we meet loads of female artists,\u201d says Hellmann.<\/p>\n
One of them was a 57-year-old who has been performing drag in Kunming for 30 years. \u201cAnd I asked: \u2018How do you manage that?\u2019 She said: \u2018Mostly on behalf of the government for HIV prevention.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
In China, restrictions and support can coexist. \u201cThere are somehow far more nuances that are difficult to discern from the outside,\u201d says the drag artist.<\/p>\n
Doesn\u2019t fit the government\u2019s conservative worldview<\/p>\n
What is easier to recognise is that repression is on the rise while support for queer subculture is waning \u2013 particularly in recent months and years. This is according to an internationally renowned drag queen from Shanghai. \u201cI haven\u2019t performed in Shanghai for six months because it\u2019s impossible. Drag queens are a sensitive issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
They are considered sensitive because they do not fit into the government\u2019s conservative view of society and are said to represent Western \u2013 and therefore decadent \u2013 values. Just a few years ago, there was a drag show somewhere in Shanghai every week. During Pride Month, there were numerous events and the queer community was visible in public life.<\/p>\n
Drag advertising for international brands is a thing of the past <\/p>\n
\u201cI remember filming adverts for major international brands in 2019, which were shown on huge screens along Shanghai\u2019s most famous shopping street,\u201d says the drag queen from Shanghai. \u201cThe brands would approach us every year for their Pride Month campaigns. But all of that disappeared within a few years of the pandemic ending.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Shanghai-based drag queen now performs exclusively abroad. Not only have drag shows disappeared, but gay and lesbian bars are being closed, queer events banned and exhibitions with gay themes halted by the authorities.<\/p>\n
Back at the venue in Kunming. Thanks to considerable support from local scene insiders, creative organisers and additional precautionary measures, the Swiss drag queen is able to perform after all. Late one afternoon, in a bar whose windows have been covered to keep out both the light and prying eyes, the show goes ahead. The Chinese audience is delighted.<\/p>\n
Reactions to Switzerland\u2019s performance <\/p>\n
\u201cI really enjoyed it. It was sexy, crazy, funny. I could say so many more positive things,\u201d says one visitor. A visibly moved female visitor says she\u2019d been afraid too. \u201cI thought the police would turn up and shut the whole thing down. I was so worried. In our community, we can\u2019t post anything on social media, because otherwise someone will come straight away and tell us that such activities aren\u2019t allowed. That\u2019s why I\u2019m so happy that this performance went ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the harassment, China\u2019s queer community is still finding spaces to express itself. But these are becoming increasingly scarce.<\/p>\n
Join the discussion:<\/p>\n