The Clean Up of SLT's Dirty Bar Street Ramps Up With No Forewarning Given to Venues

Efforts to clean up Sanlitun's Dirty Bar Street have been ramped up considerably, as laborers erected scaffolding on both its west and east sides yesterday (Sep 6), before ripping up much of the pavement on its west side today. It marked the next major phase of demolitions that began on the Taikooli-adjacent side street this past April, leading to the closure of a wide swath of its bars and shops.

"What I understood is they are renovating the street for pedestrians to walk. And maybe put all the electricity wires underground," said Avi Shabtai, the owner of the Biteapitta restaurant on the strip's east side. When asked for further details he said: "I don't know, no one is actually talking to us."

A photo of the latest roadwork, taken from the south entrance, was widely circulated on social media by the evening of September 7, with many users declaring it the fatal blow to what was once Beijing's most notoriously raucous strip.

Before the laborers set to work, the west side of the strip was long known for being littered with dive bars, nail salons, DVD shops, and convenience stores. Photos of what it looked like pre- and post-demolition were also making the rounds on WeChat.

Most surprising of all, however, is what the authorities have in mind for the future of this strip. Far from the gritty, debaucherous strip of yore, its would-be aesthetic is instead polished beyond recognition and much like any other part of central Sanlitun:

That image was shared by Shabtai, who says, "I got this from someone who was trying to cool me down, as I came today and saw the entire street demolished, the entrance blocked and scaffolding attached to the building, all without notice."

Hu Sheng Xuan, the owner of DVD Shop No. 45 on the strip's west side, has dealt with even more such obstacles. In April his shop's front entrance was blocked off, but he was still able to admit patrons around a back entrance, through a gate near the southwest corner of the strip. "This has affected my business a lot," he said. But he refuses to admit that there's no room for shopkeepers of his ilk on the soon to be cleaned up Dirty Bar Street. He said: "I'm just looking forward to a better tomorrow. Until then, I'll endure."

El-Mar Bengal, co-owner of the Kokomo night club on the southeast portion of the strip, has a more upbeat attitude about today's construction, or at least one of acceptance. "Well, the old bar street is gone anyway. Which is sad of course, but let's see what they come up with." Bengal went on to mention the same image of the tidied up future dirty bar street that Shabtai saw, saying: "I randomly saw a plan of what they are trying to do and it looked nice. Maybe a bit too nice though. We will see."

More stories by this author here.
Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
Twitter: @MulKyle

Photos: WeChat, Avi Shabtai