[2] Ma Baoli, (Chinese: 马保力; pinyin: Mǎ Bǎolì; also known as Geng Le; 耿乐; Gěng Lè), then a closeted police officer in Qinhuangdao, Hebei, set up Danlan (淡蓝; Dànlán; 'light blue', a reference to the Bohai Sea) a message board for gay men, in 2000.

As the site gained more attention, his supervisors eventually discovered in 2012 that Ma ran the website and forced him to resign.

[3][4] Today, Blued employs over 200 staff at its headquarters in Beijing, China, and has recently opened new offices in London, UK, and India to overview the rapid expansion of the app overseas.

[2][5] The app, the BlueCity group in general and Ma himself have been recognized for their health promotion efforts, particularly in the prevention of HIV/AIDS infections.

Danlan had collaborated with health officials in Beijing to promote HIV testing to higher-risk demographics soon after its launch.