North Sanlitun Street, located in the eastern part of Beijing and neighboring the embassy area, was just a typical commercial street for small household items before 1995.
In 1993, the Sanlitun Neighbourhood Committee built some simple and temporary buildings along the street for commercial purposes, to follow up the success of South Sanlitun Street which had a flourishing business.
But North Sanlitun did not boom as expected, even though it was just steps away from the South Street.
In April 1995, two young people invested over 100,000 yuan (US$12,000) and opened the first bar in this street, called the Yunsheng Bar.
Because of its advantageous geographic position, the bar saw steady business from foreigners and brought vigour to the street. Other owners followed and converted their businesses into bars.
By the end of 1995, bars had flourished in this street. Some foreign media had reported it as "Sanlitun Bar Street." The name has become widespread since then.
In its early days, about 95 per cent of customers were foreigners, including some tourists and staff members at foreign embassies and other international organizations in Beijing.
Later, more and more young Chinese began coming.
Bar Street, together with the Sanlitun Costume Street, which was located at the western side of the North Sanlitun Street and was removed in late 2000 and early 2001, brought prosperity to the street and propelled the economic development of the area.
Most bars in the street invite bands and singers for live shows from 8 pm until midnight throughout the week. In the evenings, people come to the bars in an endless stream, chatting with friends and enjoying beer and music.
But the bustling street was a headache to some, where many residents complained of noise and disturbances.
Noise and traffic were the main problems, they said.
After several years of development, operations on Sanlitun Bar Street have become relatively standardized, though some problems still linger.
( China Daily July 15, 2002 )
