The year 2022 has been filled with twists and turns, making us all the more ready to bid it farewell. We’re taking a look back at the best and worst of times in the capital from this year that was.
Yesterday we wrote about places that closed their doors but were reborn as new ventures, but today is a sadder story of places that shut, at least some of their doors, for good.
Surely everyone remembers the Nali Patio saga that hit the capital back in June and July when it looked like 2022 might claim one huge Beijing casualty. It all started with a dispute with the outgoing landlord whose lease was ending on Jun 30. The landlord hired a demolition crew to destroy certain sections of the complex that had been added over the last decade and a half the night before their lease ended. There were even videos circulating of the landlord herself going around smashing windows with a sledgehammer.
Suffice to say, come Jul 1 havoc had been wreaked and Nali Patio venues were forced to temporarily stop business due to safety concerns. Luckily, after the debris had been cleared and the structure made safe the majority of businesses were able to reopen on Jul 8. However, one venue that was hit particularly hard was Mosto, which was in desperate need of funding in order to reopen. Mosto put out a fundraising call, and in less than 24 hours Beijing answered and they were able to raise enough money to then reopen on Jul 14.
Unfortunately, there were a few venues in Nali Patio that decided to jump ship ahead of the landlord change. One was Spanish restaurant Carmen, which, because it was owned by the outgoing landlord, unsurprisingly closed. Other venues that also shut their doors were cocktail bar Black Moth, hair salon C30 and the Nali Patio branch of Moka Bros. As of now, repairs on Nali Patio have been completed and it pretty much looks as good as new. We can all breathe a sigh of relief that 2022 didn’t bring an end to this beloved venue.
They say third time’s the charm, but unfortunately this didn’t prove to be the case for sustainable goods store The Bulk House, which was forced to close their third physical store in the capital on Sep 17 this year. Having already experienced two previous physical store closures, the first store being in Maizidian and followed by one on Gulou Dongdajie, this third closure has made them call it quits, at least for now.
However, it wasn’t all bad news, as although their physical store located on Beiluogu Xiang closed The Bulk House is still going strong online and they may expand outside of China in the future. Co-owner Joe Harvey told us: “We have three online stores: Taobao, Weidian and the WeChat Mini Program. We'll continue to increase our product range and continue to make our little company run more smoothly. We have customers in all provinces of China now, so that's great, and perhaps we'll branch out to other Asian countries in the next year or so.”
There was more closure news in September with it being announced that Beijing Foreign Languages Bookstore in Wangfujing would be closing in order to undergo renovations. Bookstore staff told the Beijinger that the store would be officially closing in October and that the entire complex will be torn down and reconstructed, a process that staff told us is expected to take two years’ time. Ahead of shutting its doors the bookstore had a big flash sale that saw 20-minute checkout lines forming and rows of empty shelves.
After 16 years in the capital Plastered 8, Beijing’s coolest apparel company, announced that they would be closing their doors on Oct 8. Opening their first store on Nanluogu Xiang back before it was the crazy busy tourist spot it’s become today, they’ve had one hell of a journey in Beijing and beyond.
Managing to grab the attention of big name celebrities like James Hetfield and Samuel L. Jackson, or even former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (though they’re less proud of that one), Plastered 8 certainly made a name for themselves over the years. However, despite their success Covid claimed yet another victim, with owner Dominic Johnson-Hill telling us that epidemic control restrictions made it hard to run a brick and mortar shop in Beijing and also made it complicated for him to make trips between his new home in Hong Kong and the capital.
After closing their doors on Oct 8, Plastered 8 did have one more trick up their sleeve, briefly returning for a limited-time collaboration with American rock group the Grateful Dead. Together they created a special Grateful Dead x Plastered t-shirt which came with a bundle of “hell money.” A fitting final goodbye for Plastered 8 fans, Johnson-Hill told us this was their “swan song” and we for one were sad to bid farewell to this Beijing stalwart.
Donut fans in Beijing got a nasty surprise this October when Dunkin’ Donuts appeared as closed on Dianping and disappeared from delivery apps. This all pointed to signs that the donut purveyor was finished in the capital and this was confirmed in November when Jollibee Foods Corp., Dunkin’s franchise partner, announced they’d be discontinuing business in Beijing.
This was the second time Dunkin’ has tried and failed to make it in the capital, with their first attempt being back in the late ‘90s. As to why they just can’t seem to make it in the capital, one diehard American Dunkin’ fan told us that they would “constantly find it closed during prime doughnut and coffee hours (aka pre-work). Also, staff in many of their locations seemed taken aback and unprepared to actually make coffee upon a customer's request.”
November saw some unexpected closures in Sanlitun’s Taikooli shopping complex, with the sporting goods store that was directly underneath Blue Frog’s Sanlitun branch closing and being replaced with a big blank green slate. There were also a couple of other closures in Taikooli North, with Starbucks and Baker & Spice shutting their locations in that complex. With countless Starbucks and four other Baker & Spices in the capital, we can fortunately count this one as not too big a loss.
Just as 2022 was winding down, there was one more final blow inflicted on the capital with news that the remnants of Sanlitun bar street are set to close in January. However, one venue that had already quietly closed its doors ahead of January was Jazz-Ya. Having been around since 1995, this was the first of Jazz-Ya’s branches in the capital, where they would serve up Japanese fare with a side of jazz. While it is sad to see the original Jazz-Ya forced to close its doors, we can be thankful that they have three other branches in the capital.
READ: 2022 Year-in-Review: Places We Bade Farewell to, Pt.1
Images: The Beijingers, courtesy of the venues
Truer words ain't bin spoke."On sandye strand at Nali Patio did fierce Fei Hongjun fayrehair beach his long-boats twentye/ Lustry Landorde Longshanks Li his thousand thanes and thralls dide assymble/ "By Donner's hammyre Mjolnir mighty, ye the Patio lay waste and raze!..."
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