When I first visited Beijing in 2000 my then girlfriend and future ex wife took me to the Sanlitun bar street. We ordered a beer but it wasn’t just any beer. It was a warm Heineken. And it came in groups of six which the waiter opened at the table.
We moved to Beijing in 2005 and the next summer was our fifth wedding anniversary. I was looking in the expat rags for somewhere to celebrate came accross Bar Blu, which was in Sanlitun but not on the main street we visited back in 2000. It was on the back street. Yea. It was empty at 8pm. I really didn’t know anything about going out; certainly not in Beijing.
That would change over the next few years as we discovered place after place. Not always Sanlitun, but often. The DVD shop was the starter drug. And even if the night wasn’t centered around Sanlitun if often started there and finished there. Often at The Tree and often on the street having chuanr. We had a gang of folks who went - the steadies of Mike, Charlie, Fanny, Steve, Yang, and myself. There were many additions on any given evening and many adhoc toasts. It was a place of bonding with coworkers. Sometimes it was just a stare from across the room.
The Tree was nearly a once a week pilgrimage. The rude waitresses grew on us and somehow treated us well, like a bully’s best friend. We sat near the pizza oven in winter and near the bar in summer.  At some point the tree became less interesting and committed the mortal sin of having mediocre pizza. It was about that time we capped off night near our 10th anniversary and I whispered to a young woman in our party “a personal best”.
First Floor was a late entry into our Sanlitun universe and was witness to some epic evenings. My brother Don even went there when he visited back in 2011. A lot has changed since then. A lot has not. First floor is where in 2012 I told my two best male friends in Beijing that my marriage was over. One’s response was to go to the restroom and cry. The other said “shame on you”.
We’ve done a couple of “get the old gang” together reunions at Sanlitun since 2012. It was fine, fun, maybe healing even. But it wasn’t the same.
The crews came earlier this year and tore down all the rogue shops on one side of that back alley as part of the city’s beautification project. One could argue but I won’t that replacing the pseudo illegal structures and businesses with fencing and decorations is an improvement. Like dental floss to a dentist. This past week they came in and destroyed the other side of the street.
Sanlitun may rise to see another day. But it won’t be the same. These things never are.

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