Waste fight shuts clubs in parks
Print Edition
Authorities in Beijing have ordered high-end clubs in the grounds of public parks to close or downgrade to an acceptable level, a move to curb officials’ extravagance.
Business at two clubs in Beihai Park — Yushantang and Shanglinyuan, known for their luxurious decorations, expensive meals and services — disciplinary authorities in the capital said yesterday.
Two clubs in the Zizhuyuan and Longtan parks have been ordered to lower their prices so ordinary people can afford their services.
There are 24 private clubs or high-end recreational venues in public park grounds in Beijing. The clubs have been ordered to move out when their leases end. The parks should not allow such clubs to operate within the grounds, as required by the city.
The move, led by the Party’s Beijing Commission for Discipline Inspection, targets “unhealthy practices in clubs” and has been incorporated into China’s “mass-line” campaign.
The “mass-line” campaign was launched by the Party’s Central Committee in June to bridge the gap between officials and members of the Party and the general public, while cleaning up undesirable work styles such as formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism and extravagance.
Public opposition toward private clubs has been on the increase.
They are often unlawfully built with public resources, sometimes in historic buildings, and frequented by the rich and powerful.
Last month, reporters found that a single dish on Yushantang’s menu cost as much as 10,000 yuan (US$1,654), or two months’ salary for the average Beijing resident.
“The meals there are meant for officials and the wealthy, not for us,” said a senior citizen who was exercising in front of the club.
Similar campaigns have been launched in Jiangxi Province, Changsha in the central Hunan Province and Nanjing in eastern China’s Jiangsu Province.
In a circular released by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the steering group of the Party’s “mass line” campaign in December, officials were ordered to shun high-end clubs to avoid extravagant practices and power-for-money or power-for-sex deals.
Kong Fanzhi, chief of Beijing cultural relics bureau and a member of a political advisory body, said: “Parks and historical sites are public treasures, which should be open to the general public, rather than the privileged few.” Kong also said that clubs in historic buildings went against cultural protection regulations.
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