Inside China’s disciplinary centres for “deviant” youth

Hefei is an inland city only a few hours by train from Shanghai. But while teenagers in the coastal megacity attend voguing parties and young men wear makeup to work, growing up in conservative Hefei is different.

Failing to conform to your parents’ expectations of what it means to be a good child can lead to trouble. In Zhang Enxu’s case, that meant years of beatings and, when those didn’t work, being sent to a disciplinary centre to be “fixed”.