They discovered one another while co-renting an apartment in the capital's Wangjing area. Knowing that their parents would never be able to understand or accept their love, they kept their relationship secret.

　　张娜娜与沈兰是在北京望京地区合租住房时结识的。因为清楚双方父母不可能理解或接受她们的关系，她们一直对外保密。

　　 As her love for Shenlan deepened, she began to think of the future. "I realized that sooner or later, I would have to react to my parents' expectations."

　　随着对沈兰的爱越来越深，她开始考虑未来。“我意识到迟早都要完成父母的心愿。”

　　It was while trawling the online lesbian-community forums and reading of the personal experiences of other homosexuals, that Zhang and her partner decided to look for a gay couple "so we could help one another".

　　在女同性恋网络社区的论坛上看到别人的故事后，张娜娜和沈兰决定寻找一对男同性恋伴侣组成“互助婚姻”。

　　In early 2006, Zhang and Shenlan met Wang and Lian (They would not give their full names). Based on favorable first impressions, and the intense pressure for marriage by both Zhang's and Wang's parents, the two registered their marriage in May.

　　2006年初，张娜娜和沈兰与王先生和连先生（双方不愿透露名字）见了面。基于双方相互留下的初步印象良好，加上来自各自父母的压力与日俱增，张娜娜与王先生与当年5月份登记结婚。

　　At first, everything went smoothly. But gradually she felt Wang was not playing his part as a supportive "husband", or a dutiful son-in-law. Their collaboration ended and Zhang saw a chance to come clean with her parents.

　　起初一切都很顺利。但渐渐地，她发现王先生并不是非常愿意以“丈夫”或“女婿”的身份配合她。夫妻间的“合作”终止后，张娜娜借机向父母坦白。

　　"I was sick of lying to them," she says.

　　她说：“我已经厌倦了冲他们撒谎。”