Virus Forces Dongcheng Venues to Close Even as Restaurants and Bars Follow Rules

Worries over the coronavirus have kept many Beijing residents staying inside as much as possible, and even the wiliest fun-lovers have had some difficulty finding a place to party like it's 2019 (that is to say, before the outbreak). That is because of new rules passed down from authorities that are designed to help keep people safe from infection.

The rules, recommended to most establishments some two weeks ago, include limiting tables to a maximum of three customers and maintaining 50 percent or less of total capacity. Some venues are also dutifully taking customers' temperatures upon ordering and registering customer visits by name. Those venues include popular health food eatery Moka Bros and the taprooms of Great Leap Brewing. While both of Great Leap's Dongcheng cations were asked to close early on in the outbreak saga, the two Chaoyang locations are still opened and implementing what one employee described as “The whole shebang,” in reference to the aforementioned rules.

In some venues, masks are even required to be worn at all times. Paddy O’Shea’s, which is usually bustling with customers on any given night of the week, recently shared via its official WeChat account that visitors are to now "wear a mask all the time inside and outside the premises. No exception will be made; when you eat or drink you can have it on your chin or around one ear, as long as the mask is visible, on the face."

Sanlitun venues aren't seemingly being held to the same stringent standards as Dongcheng establishments, with many in Sanlitun Soho, Nali Patio, and Courtyard 4 still open for business (albeit with some reduced hours).

Kenn Bermel, owner of The Local Bar & Grill in Courtyard 4, admits that he originally wondered if such rules were much ado about nothing, but is now glad that the bar began to abide by them from the very start. In reference to the aforementioned rules, while the Dongcheng locations were forced to close early on in the course of the outbreak.

That may fly in Chaoyang, but as enforcement ramps up, even following the rules to a tee is not enough in Dongcheng. After closing and then reopening, popular bars situated on main streets, including Side Street, QS, and Café de la Poste were recently asked to close again until further notice. While QS continues to look for solutions, Side Street owner Uday Phalgun reckons it will be a while before his bar or any others in the Jiaodaokou area will be allowed to open. In the meantime, both Side Street and QS are delivering via Meituan.

The situation becomes more complex once you venture into the hutongs, as venues that have not yet been asked to close weigh the benefits of staying open. Wine bar Pinó recently decided to shut it its doors, citing increasing restrictions on entrance into the hutongs, strangling customer access. On Beiluogu Xiang, Mai Bar made the decision to close last week, but its nearby neighbors El Nido, as well as Dongcheng-located sister bars Zhujingban and Fang Bar, are staying open for the time being. Owner and manager Zak Elmasri says that while the three businesses are mostly relying on delivery of their specialty beer these days, the bars are still welcoming customers to walk in. "We're still in here doing this, so if someone wants to come in for a drink or bite to eat, we just serve them," states Elmasri.

While venues continue to grapple with new obstacles created by the coronavirus, this week witnessed the first big venue closure directly as a result of it: Moroccan eatery Caravan, whose proprietor Badr Benjelloun specifically referenced the inconsistent enforcement of the rules as one of the biggest destabilizing factors facing small foreign-owned businesses. "Without exact rules, doing any sort of business leaves us at the mercy of local neighborhood interpretations and random closures," stated Benjelloun.

With the irregularities in implementation and accountability, uncertainty is the name of the game for the venues across Beijing. If you're just looking to go out for a drink, though, just be certain to carry a mask and check ahead of time that your destination is open.

READ: Exploring the Ghost Town That is Beijing's Retail Mecca Sanlitun

Image: Wikimedia, Dianping