There’s always the local 7-11.
Lol, I guess if there are enough places shut down, people could take to dancing and drinking at the 7/11 (:
If you want to expand the definition to anywhere that is licensed to serve alcohol, I am not aware of any the local drinking places that have been shut down in my area (xitun district).
I have not seen any of the following places that sell alcohol shut down:
- local shops with white tables and plastic chairs out the front where people sit and drink and smoke
- Karaoke bars
- Night market stalls
- local pubs that cater to westerners
- local restaurants
- 7 11’s
The facts can be hard to evaluate – unless somebody has cataloged a full list of the bars shut down and the reasons for doing so, then at initial impression it seems hard to believe that 300 bars were shut down and that they were shut down because the police and/or local government wants to arbitrarily shut down fun.
If the local government is shutting down bars, that may or may not be a sign of cleaner administration. We’ve all seen places in operation in Taiwan whose sanitation, plumbing, electric work, etc. are a horror to behold. If red envelopes for police were the start and end of the enforcement story within Taiwan, then there would normally not be any shutdowns because everybody would simply be looking the other way. An alternate theory, of course, might be the use of corruption by competitors or other interested parties to get police to shut down unwanted places. But, again, that’s a double-edged sword – a bar that tries to shut another bar down might get a taste of its own medicine someday.
Frankly, Taiwan could benefit from the creation of safer, cleaner, better restaurants, pubs, etc. – provided that the inspections and enforcement are done consistently and not in a discriminatory way. Taichung’s a place that has had its share of experience with scary firetraps that killed people, and the fires down there continue to have an effect on fire-code enforcement throughout the rest of Taiwan. I’ve had the pleasure of working with several places who make a very sincere effort to offer food and drinks in a clean, safe environment, and I’ve so far been impressed by them.
For many cases, ‘fair warning’ was about 24 hours to get into compliance. I’m not defending shops that do not provide a safe environment for customers, nor am I condoning a shop being out of compliance. However, I do not feel it is fair to only give an owner a day or so to do major repairs and renovations.
The government at least gives foreigners caught teaching illegally 7 days to get their sh*t in line.
Doubtful, Icon. Most of these places were small storefronts (1F and/or 2F) and basements. Developers would have to get the whole building condemned and have families move out to build on the land. And even then, they’d only get a sliver of a property.
One friend did, however, mention that all these open storefronts just mean that Taichung is going to become a chain-store capital.
Of course, on the flip side, I have a few friends in the restaurant biz who have been looking for places to open their second and third locations. A year ago, they were having a hard time finding a suitable place. Now, there are a lot more locations to choose from.
[quote=“pqkdzrwt”]
Although I am sure it would be easy to find and then shut down 300 places due to breach of some building code, I don’t think anyone believes tht Taichung at one point has ever had 300 night clubs.[/quote]
I’m not exact on the numbers, but I think that number is completely plausible. Taichung is a sprawling city, especially now that the city includes former Taichung County. There are lots of bars and nightclubs in this fine city that go unseen to the average person.
There were also some bars that feigned closure – by chaining up their front door. People entered through the back door… 
[quote=“Lili”]
Lotta could be talking about a freaking fruit stand in a night market where “people like to hang out”.[/quote]
No. :eh:
[quote=“Lili”]
I don’t know how its done in Taiwan…[/quote]
Correct.
Yup.
[quote=“pqkdzrwt”]
I am not aware of any the local drinking places that have been shut down in my area (xitun district).[/quote]
Xitun has a big nightlife scene, and I know of two bars that were shut down there. (By the way: XiTun is huge. And I’m talking huge.)
I’m sure someone on FB has made one. There’s been a lot of talk about these recent closings on FB.
WLL mentioned this in his OP, but I want to say it again. Also hurt in this whole crack down have been the owners of clean and safe venues. They have had to restrict their hours significantly and have to turn away customers left and right. They cannot display their wares in a way that encourages profits. They are hassled by cops for doing nothing other than owning a store.
Which bar?[/quote]
The name of the bar/nigthclub is Hell. It is on Wu-quan rd. I am not sure that it will be closed down, but it was the first time I had ever been there and the police came. A friend said the place gets the police every week. He bets it will not be open next Saturday.
In my opinion, it did not look like the death trap that some other places were. I had been in Ala and, frankly speaking, I am not surprised that what happened there happened. They had styrofoam on the walls for crying out loud. And only one exit.
Hell, on the other hand, did have a fire exit in the back.
I think the solution to the building safety problem is not just to have more fire exits, but to limit the number of people who can be in a club at any one time. They can have people counting the number of people who are coming and going and maybe have a police officer on hand to help out.
But you know how Taiwan is. They would let more people in the moment the police officer left.