bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

A three-month vice crackdown has residents of red-light area lying low

The normally bustling streets of Shazuicun in Shenzhen are now  deserted.

Many karaoke parlours and nightclubs have not opened their shutters as night falls in this well-known red-light district.

Grumbling in low voices, women wearing heavy makeup cast nervous glances at uniformed officers who are busily installing surveillance cameras.

Shazuicun, which some say is the last stronghold of Shenzhen's red-light districts, is all quiet tonight. And many people suspect the silence will stay for much longer.

Shenzhen authorities launched a three-month anti-vice campaign in May,  with Shazuicun its focal point. Public security officers raid the district regularly, sometimes twice a day.

They have rounded up more than 170 prostitutes, pimps and clients since the campaign started. Of those arrested, 113 were sent to detention centres and 11 were sentenced to re-education through labour, including 44 Hong Kong residents, police say.

The area became the focus of media attention last week following the arrest of Hong Kong police officer David Liu Hong-man,  found with a prostitute.

Once a ramshackle village surrounded by farmland, Shazuicun today is Shenzhen's best-known vice town, where all sorts of shady businesses prosper. The change came when the mainland opened its doors to the world in the 1980s. Shenzhen, designated as a special economic zone, drew hordes of opportunity-seekers from across the country.

Blocks of matchbox buildings now cluster on abandoned farmland. Villagers no longer earn a living by toiling in the fields, but by renting apartments to tenants.

Most of the rental business is unregulated and unregistered.

Brothels, nightclubs and massage parlours  have sprung up everywhere. In Shazuicun alone, there are 150 karaoke bars, nightclubs and other entertainment premises.

Shazuicun, Xinzhoucun, Shuiweicun, Huangguancun and Huangbeilingcun were Shenzhen's de facto red-light districts throughout the 1990s, when droves of cashed-up Hong Kong men could be spotted in the streets every day.

'The heyday was in 1996 and 1997. Many Hong Kong people made overnight fortunes in the property and stock markets. They all loved to come here looking for pleasure and relaxation,' said Hong Kong engineer Sunny Lo.

'I bumped into friends in Shazuicun who I hadn't seen for years in Hong Kong. It became a small colony for Hong Kong men,' he said.

A bizarre community emerged from the thriving vice trade, with prostitutes making up the majority of the residents and gangsters acting as the de facto government.

'Seven out of 10 women who live here are prostitutes, and two of the remaining three are mistresses,' a restaurant owner chuckled.

The lucrative prostitution business attracted gangsters from the mainland, Macau and Hong Kong. Drug trafficking, kidnapping and all sorts of crimes followed.

The Shenzhen government launched repeated campaigns trying to crack down on what they called 'villages within cities'.

The gangsters often openly defy orders of the public security officers.

'About three years ago, a squad of police tried to raid the village. The gangsters mobilised hundreds of members and blocked the entrances. The two sides faced off in the streets and police had to retreat eventually,' recalled one resident.

'Sometimes, they lay low for a while and then they come back. I believe this time it is the same,' he said.

Many villagers share his view. Some say the anti-vice campaign this summer is hardly different from the previous ones. But officials say the Shenzhen government has prepared a long-term strategy this time.

'It's not going to be just a police campaign. We will completely change these villages through various channels,' one official said.

'The first step is to regulate the rental market,' he said.

A 25-member taskforce has been billeted inside Shazuicun.

'We now ask our police officers to inspect all entertainment premises twice a day,' said an official from the Futian Public Security Bureau.

'We hope to use Shazuicun as a test ground. If these practices are efficient, we will implement them in another 15 villages in Futian.'



Lights dim on Shenzhen's streets of sin