Chen Qingzu, a 56-year-old health worker from South China’s Hainan province, has a very bizarre hobby – he collects brassieres. In the past 20 years, he has amassed over 5,000 bras of various colors, shapes and sizes. Chen now wants to start a museum to display his entire bra collection.

Now, before you write-off Chen’s hobby as a fetish, you might want to hear his version of the story: “It’s my job to educate the public about the importance of health checkups, but my special interest is as an advocate for female health relating to their breasts and this was a good way of going about it,” he said. “Many women wear tight or smaller-size bras to show off their figures, which would do harm to their breasts.”

Chen said that most of his bras were donated to him by college girls after he visited their campuses to talk about breast health. He told the girls about the dangers of wearing ill-fitting bras and asked them to give him theirs. “Many girls thought I was a bra fetishist,” he said. But when he explained that he was only trying to promote well-fitting bras, the students were convinced and handed over their ill-fitting ones to him.

An internship experience in the 1980s inspired Chen to take up the cause of women’s breast health. “I’ve seen many women suffer from breast disease and lose their breasts,” he said. Apparently, he will go to any lengths just to help women. He even wore a bra in public in November last year, hoping to raise more awareness.

“Some of my friends think my hobby is a bit strange but I don’t see it as odd at all,” said Chen. “All women wear them so I want to build a museum devoted entirely to them with all sorts of colors and sizes on display. The bras reflect the changes in society in the past 20 years and I hope the serious message of breast health and cancer prevention will come across for the people who visit it.”

For now, Chen’s bras are on display at his house in Yacheng town. The local council is considering donating a building to him to house his museum, where the entrance will be free for all visitors. But before he opens his temple dedicated to female body shapers, Chen wants to double his extensive collection. Well, good luck to him!

Photos: Chinanews

via ECNS