After yesterday having told of the demise of society hair salon Jacques Dessange, CitySeen is heartbroken to report that another legendary institution, the Bottoms Up bar, is going belly up (from its current Tsim Sha Tsui location, at least).
Hong Kong's most famous girlie bar is apparently pulling down its shutters in April for the last time. The bar became a landmark for movie buffs after it was featured in the 1974 James Bond flick The Man with the Golden Gun. Roger Moore, Peter Sellers, George Peppard and Gregory Peck have been among the gaudy nightspot's clientele.
The club opened in May 1971 at Hankow Road near the Peninsula Hotel and quickly established itself at the heart of the city's nightlife. But it wasn't an easy ride. Its racy neon sign featuring a naked bottom was forced to be removed in the government's obscenity crackdown in 1994. The bar's topless girls were also forced to wear bras and negligees.
Calls to the bar were left unanswered but it has been reported that rising rent is forcing the bar to seek a new location. And a new Bottoms Up is expected to open in Wan Chai.
