I embarked on this project in 2008 and at this time the AIDS epidemic was little known or talked about. I wanted to capture & highlight this issue and the people who were helping to provide information and help. Most people living with HIV in China are from marginalised communities which are often criminalised. This includes people who use drugs (PWUD), sex workers and men who have sex with men (MSM).

At the time of my project, the routes of new HIV infections had been increasingly caused through sexual transmission, whether through heterosexual or homosexual intercourse, as opposed to other means of transmission. Though HIV prevalence in China is relatively low, the epidemic has long been a major concern for key affected populations within the country, and is now of growing concern for the general population. The epidemic has shifted from high-risk injecting drug users in the southwestern province of Yunnan to the general population.

As young people become increasingly liberal, so do attitudes towards premarital sex. This transformation is reflected in the number of new infections in people aged between 15 and 24 years doubling between 2008 and 2015, with men who have sex with men making up 82% of new infections in this age group.

According to current national estimates, 1.25 million people in China are living with HIV. Around 400,000 people are unaware of their status.