Originally Posted by
moondog
I agree; lots of fun to be had their for "observers".
BTW, yesterday, when I drove past, the door was open and there were construction workers inside. Today, the notice was gone (couldn't tell if was open though because this was at 2p).
I'm inclined to disagree with this statement:
1) On the tbj forums there are tons of stories about staff at certain establishments beating patrons to a pulp (and, in rare instances, to death); the bosses never receive any significant trouble from the police
2) When every bar in Tongli Studio except for China Doll was slapped with fire code violations, you kind of had to wonder
3) The rampant drug use in some places suggests that the police are in tow
4) There's a reason that Block 8's roof didn't open until last summer was 2/3 gone (those guys were rookies)
5) The handful of bar owners that I know have told me a bit about what it takes to keep the authorities at bay; in addition to the police, they also need to take care of 黑社会
My point was that there has long been a "belief" that Maggie's is actually owned by State Security (not just the PSB), and I am convinced this is not true (including the PSB, for that matter). A long term payoff situation? Almost certainly. But that old story about how it was set up to keep tabs on westerners: I doubt it. I think some of the bouncer/doormen/hot dog guys are probably working for PSB, but who cares. It is, however, the only club in town (that I know of) that openly bars Chinese men from entering the place and they claim they do that because young Chinese guys get too drunk and might start fights...which of course sounds pretty ridiculous.
I agree with the rest of what you said, though. This country is run by thousands of Tony Sopranos, always has been. I don't really care.