Beijing Boyce

Eight is a lucky number in China, so for each of the 88 days until the 2008 Olympics, I will strip-mine my brain to unearth a thought related to Beijing and The Games. That’s one thought per brain cell. It’s called teamwork, people!

Thought 3 of 88

Getting hounded by a dozen or more “lady bar, lady bar“, “happy hour, cheap drink” and other touts while walking the Sanlitun North strip is as annoying as the Beijing bar scene gets, right?

Actually, Sanlitun slides into second place when compared to Houhai’s Lotus Lane last night around 11 PM. Here are a few highlights of my visit there with The Cellar Rat:

- Lady bar touts, including one who grabbed my arm, following uncomfortably close and shouting “massage! sex!” and “lady come to room!”

- Restaurant employees dragging bags of stinking leaking garbage across the sidewalk, thereby leaving streaks for everyone to walk through.

- In-your-face “salespeople” repeatedly shouting “hello, hello!” and “looka, looka!” in a persistent effort to sell those hand-held laser beams, one of which was shone near my face.

Classy.

Most annoying is that Lotus Lane has such potential. Lying beside the lake and with ample outdoor seating, it offers a nice view. Some of the restaurants serve good food. Some of the clubs make an effort - Buffalo had a decent jazz combo playing last night.

Unfortunately, none of them got our money. We decided to leave rather than deal with a smelly street loaded with rude pushy touts.

One hopes that for the Olympics, the authorities will either: 1) clear out the touts, 2) arm tourists with tasers and mace so they can do the job themselves, 3) or provide a sales primer which underscores that yelling “looka, looka” and shining a high-powered beam of light into someone’s face is unlikely to make them a potential customer.

Previously

Thought 1: If they build it, we may come
Thought 2: “Whether or not” in Sanlitun