Beijing gets its first ever rock 'n' roll cafe<\/p>\n
--------------------------------------------------------------<\/p>\n
The Singapore-based Hard Rock Cafe Holdings invited The
\nJakarta Post to the recent grand opening of Hard Rock Cafe in
\nBeijing. Here is the report.
\n---------------------------------------------------------------<\/p>\n
By Harry Bhaskara<\/p>\n
1 col 8 pt<\/p>\n
BEIJING (JP): The very name North Dongsanhuan Rd. in this
\ncity's Chaoyang district sounds anachronistic once you step
\ninside this American cafe.<\/p>\n
The only clue that you are still in China is a depiction of
\nChairman Mao on the domed mural of the cafe which looks more like
\na rock 'n' roll museum.<\/p>\n
More than 30 guitars plucked by famous rockers and heaps of
\nother celebrity memorabilia fill the walls.<\/p>\n
With or without any Chinese ambience, this 400-seat cafe,
\nlocated in the heart of Beijing's embassy, hotel and
\nentertainment belt, was thronged with some 800 people each day
\nduring the four weeks of its soft opening.<\/p>\n
\"You see, we are not yet open, and it is already full of
\npeople,\" a beaming Art Levitt, president and CEO of the cafe told
\nThe Jakarta Post on the eve of the grand opening.<\/p>\n
Full of people in this communist country?<\/p>\n
\"This has no relation to politics,\" said Levitt, who had just
\nflown in from Florida, \"we serve all people.\"<\/p>\n
Beijing's stamp of approval was evident with the presence of
\nBeijing Tourism Administration director Dong Chun-sheng at the
\nofficial opening on May 14.<\/p>\n
\"This is a momentous occasion for both the People's Republic
\nof China and the Hard Rock Cafe,\" said Colin Syn, director of
\nHard Rock Cafe Holdings. \"It's an opportunity to expose the
\nChinese to not only traditional American fare, but also to what a
\ntypical American-style cafe is like.\"<\/p>\n
As night fell and the chilly spring wind roared outside the
\nLandmark Tower where the cafe is located, Beijing's belles took
\nto the dance floor to tunes by American blues guitar legend B.B
\nKing. Ironically, all under the watchful gaze of Mao, who purged
\nhundreds of Chinese artists and intellectuals he considered to
\nhave been influenced by decadent Western values.<\/p>\n
Also on hand were a number of artists including Mike Love from
\nthe Beach Boys and Hong Kong pop star Andy Lau.<\/p>\n
Not for commoners<\/p>\n
The warm atmosphere, the multi-racial clientele, the high
\ndecibel music, the rock memorabilia lining the walls, the Elvis
\nPresley stained glass panels, the energetic waiters, are all
\nreminiscent of Hard Rock Cafes in Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala
\nLumpur, Manila, Taipei or Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Plans are afoot to open future Hard Rocks in Shanghai and
\nGuangzhou.<\/p>\n
However it is too early to say whether the US$3 million cafe,
\npowered by a 250,000-watt sound system purchased by Singaporean
\ntycoon Ong Beng Seng, will reach a mainstream audience.<\/p>\n
The original Hard Rock Cafe, founded by two Americans in
\nLondon in 1971, was originally intended to cater to commoners.<\/p>\n
\"The prices are too high for a more mainstream clientele,\"
\nmoaned a Beijing resident.<\/p>\n
\"It will end up catering to foreigners and the bourgeois,\"
\npredicted Liang He Ping, a noted local jazz musician.<\/p>\n
Besides, he added, China has its own rock musicians.<\/p>\n
A drink and a meal in the cafe easily comes to 150 yuan
\n(roughly $20) in a city where common people earn 400 yuan a
\nmonth. A cover charge of 100 yuan is imposed once the band
\nstarts.<\/p>\n
Perhaps it is decades of repression that stirred reactions
\nakin to culture shock and alienation at the grand opening.<\/p>\n
\"The fancy decorations with all the guitars make you feel that
\nyou are not in China,\" said a student of Beijing University.<\/p>\n
She also complained that the people who should have been
\npresent for the occasion had not been allowed in.<\/p>\n
\"The organizer,\" she said, \"looks down on local Chinese. They
\nnot only barred local rock musicians from coming, but also local
\nChinese.\"<\/p>\n
A local journalist said he observed a noted Chinese rock
\nmusician being turned away at the door although the musician was
\nholding an invitation card.<\/p>\n
He also said that the event was exclusively for foreign
\njournalists. He said he was present because a foreign journalist
\nfriend had given him an invitation card.<\/p>\n
Denial<\/p>\n
The organizer denied such discriminating treatment, saying
\nthat it was highly doubtful that such a thing could happen.<\/p>\n
Whether the cafe will end up catering to common Beijingers or
\nonly well-heeled night owls and foreigners like the Jakarta Hard
\nRock Cafe remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
A British national studying at Beijing University who enjoys
\ndancing said that the cafe is but another addition to the many
\ndance places in Beijing.<\/p>\n
\"I may come here once in a while,\" said Caroline Hoy.<\/p>\n
So far the clientele is about half tourists, one-third
\nexpatriates and the rest Beijingers, said Nicholas Ong, the
\ncafe's general manager.<\/p>\n
Clienteles can change and the attitude of local customers
\ncounts, said Nina Laraswati, an Indonesian youth who counts
\nherself a regular at the two-year-old Jakarta Hard Rock Cafe.<\/p>\n
\"There are more teenagers these days compared to before,\" she
\nsaid, \"besides, Jakartans are constantly on the lookout for new
\nentertainment hot spots.\"<\/p>\n
Changes in clientele don't bother Scott Hensarling, regional
\nmanager for London, Jakarta and New York.<\/p>\n
\"Launching a new cafe is like nurturing a newly born baby. It
\nis demanding but also very rewarding,\" he said.<\/p>",
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