Shooting of a 30-episode TV play about a man suffering from AIDS has just finished in Zhuhai, the nearest Chinese mainland city to Macao, the South China Metropolis News has reported.

The TV play, entitled "Lost Paradise," tells the story of Quan Zhengyang, who bravely battles the fatal disease with the help of friends and relatives.

The lead character, played by Pu Cunxin, an up and coming Chinese actor, contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion.

"Many people still shy away from or dare not speak about AIDS and those who have the disease, which in fact is not right," said Pu, who is also an icon of China's AIDS control program.

"Many people have contracted the fatal disease unknowingly because AIDS can be spread through diverse ways, not simply because of a decadent lifestyle."

Pu also played a doctor who helps an HIV-positive patient regain his confidence in life in another TV play about AIDS called "If I Have Tomorrow" which was released in December last year.

Since the first AIDS case in China was discovered in 1985, the incidence of the disease has increased rapidly. By September 2001, all China's 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities had reported the disease.

Experts estimate that the number of China's HIV carriers may exceed 600,000.

(Xinhua News Agency May 26, 2002)