The Chinese news agency Xinhua recently reported on the existence of a town in Sweden called Chako Paul City, which supposedly is inhabited only by females and where lesbianism runs rampant. Much to the dismay of Chinese readers, Sweden is denying the existence of the town.

According to Xinhua, the town was founded in 1820 in the northern Swedish woods by a wealthy widow and boasts 25,000 residents, as well as a medieval castle. A pair of blonde female sentries stand guard at the town, and men wishing to enter risk being "beaten half to death" by the police. And according to the Chinese news service Harbin News, many of the residents also turn to homosexuality "because they could not suppress their sexual needs".

The Chinese press also claims that much of the all-female population is employed in the forestry industry, with many sporting a "thick waist belt full of woodworking equipment". Women who decide to leave the town to fulfill their sexual needs with men are only allowed to return to the city if they agree to bathe and undertake other measures that are designed to ensure that their trysts won't negatively affect the mental state of other women in the town.

Not surprisingly, Xinhua says that "Chako Paul's tourism industry is increasingly prosperous. Hotels and restaurants are everywhere, to receive women from around the world."

Both Xinhua and Harbin News covered this story, which also formed the basis of a Shanghai Media Group television report.

Claes Bertilson, a spokesperson for Sweden's Association of Local Authorities and Regions, says he is doubtful about the Chinese media's claims. He said:

“I’ve never heard anything about it.”

At 25,000 residents, the town would be one of the largest in northern Sweden, and I find it hard to believe that you could keep something like that a secret for more than 150 years.”

He was also at a loss to explain where the story could have originated:

“I have no idea where something like this could have come from,” he added.

Per Wilhelmsson of the tourism office in Umeå in northern Sweden said that he never heard of such a town, but did confirm that tourism in the area was booming:

“Our tourism industry is doing quite well, among the best in northern Sweden."

However, he adds that he is fairly certain that no "women-only" city existed in northern Sweden. He said that the story reminded him of a stunt that was carried out in the 1980s by Pajala, a northern Swedish town lacking a female population:

“They arranged for bus loads of women to come up to this town because there weren't enough of them.”

Given that the "Great Firewall of China" is likely to block stories refuting the existence of the mythical town, billions of sexually frustrated Chinese men, who after years of following the one child per family rule and selective abortions to ensure the birth of boys, will fantasize about a vacation to Chako Paul City that they'll never get to take.