China Says “No” To Spitzer
Near my office, on a back street there is a great Sichuanese restaurant I sometimes like to have lunch with [some] colleagues. It is in the business district, but one of the charms of Beijing is that even among the modern developments, there are still some charming back alleys (for at least two more months). The first time I went there, I noticed a little place across the street that vaguely resembled a hair dresser’s. Standing in the doorway, up the seven steps, was a woman in her late 20s or early 30s wearing more white powder makeup than a pedohpile pop star. Quickly we decided that we knew her source of income.
A few months later the Eliot Spitzer story broke. For those of you who don’t know, the former governor of New York, a man who had made many, many enemies during his time as a prosecutor, was busted in a sex ring sting. Apparently, he had spent tens of thousands of dollars on prostitutes over several years, including while living in the Governor’s Mansion.
While the restaurant has no connection with the brothel, of which I am aware anyway, its close proximity to the house of ill repute gained it the nickname “Spitzer’s.” The dubbing was a tip of the hat to my home state’s infamous leader.
This week I arrive back in Beijing and was informed that the enterprise that gained “Spitzer’s” its name, had been shut down while I was out of the country. It felt a little like finding out your buddy broke up with someone that you never really cared about one way or another, but whose very existence was a source of great humor. Think Lyle Lovett.
At first I thought that maybe they simply went out of business. After all, I had never seen anyone walk into the place. But then it occurred to me that 1PM on a Tuesday might not be high season for the whores.
Then another thought occurred to me. The Olympics are coming. The Chinese are not eager to have sex workers around (according to Danwei anyway). In that article the government expressed concern that a lot of foreigner sex workers might enter the country during the Olympics. But since that doesn’t make any sense whatsoever, maybe our local eyesores were the real targets of the sweep.
So if the woman with the white-caked face is back shortly after the Olympics (or Paralympics?) then we’ll know the cause of its closure. Of course, if place is back in business before then, we’ll all know that the American government isn’t the only ones with leaders who can’t live without a dirty little habit.
Su Xiaoxiao responds:
Posted: June 10th, 2008 at 1:07 pm →
Very funny that you started this entry describing a lunch with your “come colleagues”. Freudian slip or spelling mistake?
Anyway; a great entry. My question is when will the authorities start closing down the city’s sex shops. An interesting point of fact is that the Chinese signs on these shops often read health product shop or something to that effect while the English is much clearer.
In the thickets of statistics responds:
Posted: July 4th, 2008 at 1:38 am →
[...] China has banned sex workers and terrorists for the upcoming Olympics. Some Beijing brothels are already disappearing. [...]