Beijing area sets its sights on intl consumers

In recent decades, bar street in Beijing's Sanlitun area has not only been a place for entertainment, it reflected the past.

As of Wednesday, all bars on the street had been closed. A notice from the authorities dated Dec 25 was posted on their doors, stating that an overhaul of the premises needed to be carried out for safety reasons after a third-party appraisal.

The move marked a new development stage for the time-honored landmark.

Sanlitun gets its name from its three li, or 1.5-kilometer, distance from the Beijing city wall.

In 1952, the Beijing Research Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Technology, the Beijing Dance Academy and Beijing Normal School moved to the area, before many families were relocated to nearby residential communities named Happy Village due to large-scale construction work in the Chinese capital.

As the population grew, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital and schools such as Beijing No 80 High School, Sanlitun Primary School, Sanlitun No 1 Middle School and Sanlitun No 2 Middle School — the affiliated high school of the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology — were established in the area.

In the 1960s, Premier Zhou Enlai designated Sanlitun as the second diplomatic zone in Beijing, and many apartments for diplomats were built in the area, making it increasingly prosperous.