Really great article about the situation for transgender people in China, really recommend everyone to read through it all. Here are some snippets

In May 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) removed gender dysphoria, or gender identity disorder, from the International Classification of Diseases. In China, however, being transgender is still classified as a mental illness, and transgender people require a “certificate of mental illness for gender dysphoria” before using hormones or getting sex reassignment surgery.

Every week, 10 to 20 transgender people visit Dr. Pan’s clinic. Counting the comprehensive consultations online, in five years, his team has provided medical help to more than 2,000 transgender people, ranging from teens to people in their 60s.

According to Dr. Pan, close to 80% of the transgender community require hormone treatment. And according to the 2017 Survey Report on the Survival of the Transgender Community in China, published by the Beijing LGBT Center and the Department of Sociology at Beijing University, 33% of transgender people who need hormone treatment obtain drugs through informal means.

Dr. Pan says there aren’t enough doctors willing to engage with the transgender community, which is still on the fringes of society in China. There are still some doctors who look down on transgender people and even the doctors engaged in helping the community. According to Dr. Pan, some doctors have questioned his motives, asking if he does it for the publicity it draws. The number of doctors in this field “can be counted on his fingers,” he says.