As Lockdown Drags On, a Beijing Club Looks to Fans for Donations
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It's no secret that businesses in China and around the world have been severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and it is unfortunately likely that restaurants, bars, and a multitude of venues and services will close in the coming months. Particularly hard hit will be independent entertainment venues, whose already narrow business hours and niche, crowd-heavy events have been all but eviscerated by the virus and the need for social distancing. Throw Beijing's unrelentingly high rent into the mix and you get an efficacious cocktail for closure.
So it wasn't the case of if, but when, venues would start looking to more innovative ways to stay afloat as the lockdown drags on. One of the first independent music spaces to do so here has been Zhao Dai, who this weekend reached out to their fans via WeChat in a bid to secure funds. As one of the capital's boldest new clubs and a staunch defender of the LGBT community as well as experimental-leaning techno, the club posed followers a simple proposition: donate money now and help the venue weather the ongoing closure and in return receive double your money in credit to be spent at the club once it reopens.Funds will go towards helping the club stay afloat until they can reopen
The outpouring of support was instant, with the post having received over 40,000 views at the time of writing. A representative of Zhao Dai told the Beijinger, "We’re extremely happy how much support we have gotten and how people have reacted," adding that they were aware of how such a call for money could easily be construed as an easy way to make money in dire circumstances: "There seems to be a shameful barrier to doing crowdfunding campaigns here ... but for us, it was our last hope to maintain the space, which otherwise wouldn’t be possible."
"Of course, the virus poses an existential threat to people, some of whom are dying or have had someone in their family who has died, which is horrible, so who are we to do a crowdfunding campaign? But in the end, we feel like that there’s another type of value – cultural capital – that we provide to the people and just from the numbers and the reach, I think that really shows how much of an impact we have and I’m really happy about that, that people really support us."That support couldn't come soon enough for the club, who have had to indefinitely postpone months of bookings and had begun a major overhaul of their lighting system with the help of members of Weimar, Germany-based electronic music collective Giegling during Chinese New Year, a week before the country came to a standstill. As access to materials and labor dissipated amid the lockdown, it fell to the club to complete the work themselves, but despite the setbacks, the renovations have so far gone to plan.
In lieu of proper labor, Zhao Dai was forced to complete planned renovations by themselves
Zhao Dai says that the spirit of coming together and a renewed interest in homegrown talent has been one of the advantages of this situation: "Due to China still being closed to foreign travelers, it hopefully means that local independent spaces will focus more on local artists and boost the local scene. Things were going a bit crazy before the lockdown in terms of club programming and this has been a time to reset and a refocus on local artists."
Zhao Dai estimates that the city's clubs won't reopen until late May at the earliest
For now, Zhao Dai hopes to reopen in late May or early June but that it will likely depend on "how things are looking not just in China but also globally because as long as it’s still a global issue, and in many countries it’s only just starting, I don’t think that they will allow us to reopen the clubs."
As fans eagerly await the return of Zhao Dai and the capital's nightlife scene, we wouldn't be surprised if other local independent venues also reach out to seek support. If this example is anything to go by, it seems that many would be happy to help.
Read Zhao Dai's original call for donations here.READ: Trending: Cats Hit With Darts, Tracking Predators Gets Smart
Photos: Rachel Israela, Qiunan Li
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