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Farewell, my favorite bar street
By Todd Balazovic (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-08 09:40
Last month, Nanluoguxiang was moved to my endangered bar street list after an announcement by local officials revealed plans to slowly transform the bar street into a center for "popular culture" by gradually replacing the bars and cafes with theaters and other entertainment venues.
For those who don't know, Nanluoguxiang is a side alley bar street located a stone's throw from the Drum and Bell Towers in Xicheng district.
This news hit hard as Nanluoguxiang was one of the first places in Beijing to cast its charm over me when I first arrived in Beijing in early 2008.
The cafes, bars and shops situated down the secluded little hutong side street captivated my craving for local Chinese culture while satiating my need for cheap drinks. It's a place where the youth blends peacefully with the traditional hutong habitants, bridging not only a generation of people but also a time period in Beijing's evolution.
The result is an atmosphere unique to Beijing, one that cannot be found anywhere else. It's the type of place where foreign visitors wanting to escape the tourist showiness can go to feel as though they are getting a genuine taste of Beijing.
Sadly, in the coming year this cornerstone of Beijing expat drinking culture may go the way of the passenger pigeon.
In the official statement, it was said that the reason behind the change is so that businesses that "play up the cultural background of the area" could be brought in. What I find saddening is that in an attempt to embrace one culture, another is being destroyed. They are, in a sense, tossing the champagne out with the cork. Another of the quoted reasons for wanting to do away with what is an otherwise profitable (to the bar owners) business area is due to low taxes paid by the 120 businesses occupying the street.
I can better understand this reasoning and suspect it might be one of the bigger motivators. It makes sense that city officials are concerned with boosting the earning potential of prime real estate, but isn't there an alternate solution? Personally, I wouldn't mind paying an additional 5-10 yuan per drink to keep the bar street around.
Unfortunately, Nanluoguxiang isn't the first bar street to be put on my rapidly expanding list of endangered bar streets. Sanlitun, another popular expat bar street, has been slowly disappearing over the past few years as new skyscrapers erupt from the streets surrounding it.
To be honest, having observed the way this area is developing, I always thought that North Sanlitun bar street would be the first place to go. Sadly, I was wrong.
But the list goes on.
Long ago put on the list of extinction were both the super bar street, which was torn down earlier this year, and the former South Sanlitun bar street, which, after being destroyed in 2004, was one of the first causalities in Beijing's fight to modernize.
Even without these streets there is no shortage of venues serving alcohol in Beijing, but few emanate the kind of humble, come-and-go attitude surrounding back alley watering holes like Sanlitun and Nanluoguxiang. It's truly a sad time for expats who can't afford the swank glamour of high-rise bar culture. For now, I guess I will just have to plan ahead for the days when Houhai and Wudoukou are the only locations in Beijing where backstreet bar goers can find refuge.
