Scandinavian tourism officials were forced to deny the existence of a lesbian-only city in northern Sweden after rumors about a secret Sapphic town got out of control in China.

Reports in several Chinese media outlets claim that a village called Chako Paul City was built in the forests of Sweden in 1820 and is now populated by more than 25,000 gay women, a concentration not seen since the Indigo Girls played halftime at the WNBA Finals.

According to the reports, men who attempt entry into the city risk being "beaten half to death" by blonde guards stationed at the gates. Despite the far-fetched rumors, many Chinese men take the story as fact, hence the statement by Sweden's tourism officials.

"I have no idea where something like this could have come from," Claes Bertilson of Sweden's Association of Local Authorities and Regions said. "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."

Our theory: The city appears once every 100 years and then vanishes into thin air, like a lesbian Brigadoon.