When police shut down the notorious Paradise nightclub on May 13, media outlets pounced on the story and stirred the public's interest.

Paradise, or "Tianshang Renjian" in Chinese, is a club whose reputation transcends its actual cliental. Although few have gone there, everyone seems to have heard of it. It possesses a mysterious aura, a shadowy boss who endows his club with alluring waitresses and adheres to a strict, social-status criterion for admittance.

For more than a decade, there's been speculation Paradise provided obscene shows and organized prostitution. However, it had escaped any police crackdown prior to this despite a major law enforcement campaign to eradicate prostitution throughout the city.

Across the internet, people have speculated about the timing of the six-month shut down, the maximum penalty for entertainment venues guilty of providing paid-sex services.

Previous news reports on prostitution crackdowns usually involved disheveled waitresses being hurried along as they attempted to conceal their faces from cameras. There was nothing resembling that in this raid. The waitresses were calm despite the police, and they didn't conceal their identities. In fact, they appeared completely composed, as some chatted among themselves while glancing at police without apparent concern.

Prostitution is illegal in China and those who engage in it face criminal repercussions, so why the absence of concern for these women?

Police say they remain adamant to shut down the prostitution industry and adopt a zero tolerance policy. The closure of Paradise demonstrates action on this front, however, the police still owe the public a detailed explanation about the timing of the raid and the club's murky history.

(This post was first published in Chinese on May 14, 2010 and translated by Ma Yujia)