More Olympic craziness

"Stop having fun, m'kay? Fun is BAD, m'kay?"

We've known for a while that all the bars and restaurants within the Workers' Stadium complex are going to be closed down for the whole month of August (not just while the Games are on, for the whole month). Remarkably - untypically - progressive and considerate of the authorities, that, giving people a couple of months' notice that their businesses are going to be quite unnecessarily FUCKED. I mean, yeah, sure, the Stadium is one of the Olympic venues - but it would be perfectly possible to control access to the stadium itself without closing down the wider complex; or, at any rate, to only close the place down while an event is actually in progress (I think it's only being used for some of the football matches). And what exactly is such a frigging 'security risk' about an entertainment venue anyway?

Also, of course, there is some uncertainty as to what the "Workers' Stadium area" might be taken to encompass. The Pavilion, a large sports bar just across the street, is obviously running scared - it's plastered with posters imploring its patrons not to do anything that might attract the unfavourable notice of the police. If the ban is extended to venues on the perimeter roads, then we might have to do without The Den as well (no great loss for me, but many will miss it). And Hooters - oh my god!

Live music is also under suspicion as a possible source of "unharmoniousness". A couple of the main venues have been very hesitant about finalizing their programmes for this month, because of concerns about whether live shows might get nixed altogether. And my favourite outdoor venue, The Stone Boat in Ritan Park, has just been shut down with next-to-no-notice - at least for its music shows (I'm not sure if it will be allowed to continue to operate just as a bar). Unspecified 'security concerns' have again been cited. It's that outdoor thing, you see: I mentioned a while back that 2 Kolegas was not being allowed to have any of its music outside on the lawn this year. It would seem that the country's leaders fear that it is but a small step from grooving on down to music under an open sky to marching on Zhongnanhai with torches and pitchforks. (Anybody got a pitchfork they can lend me?)

With this in mind, the latest bright idea of the authorities is to clamp down on roof terraces. All the rooftops on Nanluoguxiang, I'm told, are going to have to close. And that's as of next week! One suspects that if this measure is deemed a 'success', it will quickly be extended city-wide. Currently, this is no great loss, since the city's cloud-seeders seem determined to give us two solid months of rain prior to the Olympics. But during the Olympic month itself, this is just unbelievably fucking STUPID. The numerous rooftop bars are a wonderful place to while away a sunny summer's day, and are one of the city's most attractive features. But the keynote of Beijing's Olympic preparations is not promoting tourism (pained, hollow laughter - what tourism?? That's probably worth a whole other post of its own!), it's about CONTROL, CONTROL, CONTROL.

The police are in a panic about drunken and high-spirited behaviour being highlighted by the world's media in August; so they are looking for any excuse they can to restrict the bar scene - and that is likely to include contriving reasons to close down some bars completely (Maggie's - the city's oldest and most popular expat brothel [I kid you not] - was the first and most high-profile victim; but there will be others, I'm sure). We're also starting to hear rumours (just bar owner paranoia? Let's hope so!) of massively reduced opening hours being imposed soon.

As with so many of this government's inept attempts at micro-management, measures like these are likely to prove severely counter-productive. Let's see: deny people their regular sources of pleasure; leave them walking the streets because there's nowhere else for them to go - yep, that's how we start riots in the rest of the world. Hitting businessmen in the pocket is an inspired addition to the mix that could well serve to politicize the unrest. What we have here is a recipe for revolution.

Well, if they try to mess with my beloved Pool Bar, I'll be taking to the streets!!