Yongkang Lu bar street to close within weeks

Xuhui authorities have finally called time on Shanghai's infamous bar street Yongkang Lu, with the district's governor Bao Bingzhang declaring that bars and restaurants on the former French Concession street will be closed down within the next month.

Just as a number of businesses in the former French Concession have quietly crept back into life after being shuttered in May as part of the new Xuhui Cultural and Historical Preservation Area, Governor Bao has decided to crackdown on the notorious bar strip.

In an interview with Xinmin Evening News, Bao stated that, 'The bars along Yongkang Lu must be removed, particularly those near schools, since the government never gave any permission to run bar businesses on that road.'

The street was the source of near-constant acrimony in the early years of the bar influx, as numerous businesses followed in the footsteps of Yongkang Lu pioneer Cafe des Stagiaires from late 2010. 

Previously a wet market and residential area, Yongkang Lu was the source of regular noise complaints from those living nearby when bars and restaurants first began taking over. Curfews were imposed upon the outlets and there was talk of bribes to locals to avoid them contacting police or harassing customers.

The street made international headlines in 2013 when some residents resorted to tipping buckets of water onto rowdy drinkers in the street below.

Yet recently things appeared to have calmed down and residents seemed to have largely accepted the road's fate, some even joining for drinks at a number of the bars. 

Now, however, the authorities have declared that the street will be cleared of the vast majority of its boozing establishments by the end of July.

So if YKL is a favourite drinking spot of yours, it seems you've got just over two weeks to make the most of it.