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 2 of 88

Back in mid-January, I wrote that the Olympics payoff for bars in Sanlitun depended on several “whether or not” scenarios. I repeat them briefly below in italics, with an update on what has happened in the four months since that post.

Whether or not bars and clubs in Tongli Studio and its environs, just west of the main Sanlitun strip, remain open. Numerous Tongli bars faced short-term closures this year, with fire safety code violations being the usual reason given. The area in the nearby streets is associated in many people’s minds with seediness.

The four Pure Girl bars were shut down during a substantial police raid early last month and remain closed. Also of note, in late February the China Daily reported that six establishments at Workers’ Stadiums’ north end will close during the Olympics for security reasons.

Whether or not the strip of mostly copy-cat bars on the east side of Sanlitun’s main strip will be open. This is where wandering male visitors hear “lady bar, sexy girl”, almost everyone hears “DVD, DVD” (from touts) and “money, money” (from beggars), and the average spot features chairs out front, a live band inside, and what I consider overpriced beer.

There has been no drop in the number of “lady bar” touts, nor any sign that anything is other than “business as usual” here. That includes the long-standing feud between the owners (and their security guards) of that monstrous building just off the strip and the construction workers who built it, whose plight is explained in writing in the windows of a van parked nearby.

Whether or not new establishments are open and ready to go - many places in the new Nali Studio, beside the 3.3 Building, are behind schedule. This ranges from Ciro’s, which was supposed to open last year, to Project H20, which predicted opening one floor by last week, but is far from doing so.

Ciro’s and The Saddle Cantina have since opened, while Muse looks close to being done. I have been unable to get an opening date out of those involved with Project H2O. Most of the new Nali Studio, however, remains empty. Both China Doll in Sanlitun and Klubb Rouge in China View, near the Workers’ Stadium, should be open within a month. Speaking of China View, there are now more than a dozen food and beverage outlets there.

Whether or not a makeshift bar area will open.

No evidence of this so far.

Whether or not the government controls entry to Sanlitun.

Nor of this.

Previously
Thought 1: If they build it, we may come