| Sex change became a hot topic in China in 1995 when a famous dancer and chief of Beijing Modern Dance Group, Jin Xing, underwent an operation to become a woman.
More than a decade has passed since then. Jin is now mother to three adopted children, engaged to her Italian boyfriend, and enjoying her life as a complete woman. Jin says she feels grateful that society never rejected her because she had changed her sex. She hopes people focus on her dancing rather than her sex-change experience.
Society is becoming more open-minded towards transsexuals. A person with the nickname "brave heart" left the following message on the Web site which tracked Li Pengli's sex-change operation: "Jin Xing had been very successful before sex change. Still she bravely had the operation for what her heart needed. We common people should also pay attention to what we really want in our hearts."
Transsexuals can also get married after their operations, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has said.
However, most experts have warned that not all transsexuals are fit for sex-change operations. Transsexuals should undergo tests to decide whether they are really transsexuals and whether they should have the operations, said professor He Qinglian, an established sex-change expert in Shanghai.
"Sex change is after all the most violent physical and psychological change a person can go through in a lifetime. The operation itself is a painful process. It also involves family and social issues after the operation. So people should be very prudent in making the decision," He said. | 
