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Sunday, 14 December 2008
Vice Dens Back in Business
One of the most notorious symbols of prostitution in Beijing has reopened in another signal the city’s vice industry has roared back to life following an Olympic crackdown.
One of the most notorious symbols of prostitution in Beijing has reopened in another signal the city’s vice industry has roared back to life following an Olympic crackdown.
Maggie’s and another bar in the diplomatic quarter that used to fill nightly with local and foreign prostitutes reopened this week after closing before the August Games.
Maggie’s doors opened again on Monday, staff there said, and the bar was crowded this week with its usual assortment of Mongolian working girls flirting with foreign men.
“Everything is back to normal now. We are open for business again,” a bartender said.
The two venues were among many targeted in a police crackdown aimed at preventing the city’s sex industry from tarnishing the August Olympics. The campaign saw hostess bars and “massage” centres around the city closed for months, and many streetwalkers cleared away.
However, vice establishments have been reopening recently and streetwalkers sighted again.
Staff at Maggie’s said that during the clampdown the bar was closed for a fire inspection, but expected to reopen after the Olympics. They repeated that explanation this week.
Prostitutes had said during the cleanup operation that many sex workers had been driven out of Beijing by police and some of the foreign ones deported.
The crackdown was part of a broader makeover aimed at sweeping the city’s less savoury elements under the rug, and which saw campaigns against drug offenders, and spitting and queue-jumping.
Estimates of the number of sex workers on the mainland range as high as 10 million or more.
Sex workers ply their trade with virtual impunity in bars, massage spas, karaoke parlours and the “barber shops” that are found in many Beijing back alleys, and which have nothing to do with haircuts.
Male travellers typically receive phone calls shortly after checking into hotel rooms, asking whether they want a girl sent up.
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Vice Dens Back in Business
AFP in Beijing
13 December 2008
One of the most notorious symbols of prostitution in Beijing has reopened in another signal the city’s vice industry has roared back to life following an Olympic crackdown.
Maggie’s and another bar in the diplomatic quarter that used to fill nightly with local and foreign prostitutes reopened this week after closing before the August Games.
Maggie’s doors opened again on Monday, staff there said, and the bar was crowded this week with its usual assortment of Mongolian working girls flirting with foreign men.
“Everything is back to normal now. We are open for business again,” a bartender said.
The two venues were among many targeted in a police crackdown aimed at preventing the city’s sex industry from tarnishing the August Olympics. The campaign saw hostess bars and “massage” centres around the city closed for months, and many streetwalkers cleared away.
However, vice establishments have been reopening recently and streetwalkers sighted again.
Staff at Maggie’s said that during the clampdown the bar was closed for a fire inspection, but expected to reopen after the Olympics. They repeated that explanation this week.
Prostitutes had said during the cleanup operation that many sex workers had been driven out of Beijing by police and some of the foreign ones deported.
The crackdown was part of a broader makeover aimed at sweeping the city’s less savoury elements under the rug, and which saw campaigns against drug offenders, and spitting and queue-jumping.
Estimates of the number of sex workers on the mainland range as high as 10 million or more.
Sex workers ply their trade with virtual impunity in bars, massage spas, karaoke parlours and the “barber shops” that are found in many Beijing back alleys, and which have nothing to do with haircuts.
Male travellers typically receive phone calls shortly after checking into hotel rooms, asking whether they want a girl sent up.
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