[2] Beginning in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, lala communities started to form in urban areas of China, such as Beijing and Shanghai, using bars and online chatrooms to connect.
[4] The slogan printed on the magazine's first issue read: "After the darkness fades away, I’ll be holding your hand, walking under the sunlight with pride, boldly and happily living our lives!
"[5] In 2012, Lucetta Kam Yip-lo, an assistant professor at Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), published the book Shanghai Lalas: Female Tongzhi Communities and Politics in Urban China.
The term lazi first entered the Mainland Chinese lexicon through Taiwanese writer Qiu Miaojin's novel Notes of a Crocodile (1994), which features a central character named Lazi.
[6] Chinese individuals identifying as lesbian have since favoured the term lala to describe their sexual orientation.