Students and businessmen, teachers and diplomats packed the African-themed Pili Pili restaurant on Friday in Beijing's run-down Super Bar Street, knocking back drinks and munching on African barbecue as a DJ spun the decks.
A Botswanan dance troupe gyrated, eliciting a chorus of applause. But for some there that night, things had changed.
A heavy-handed anti-drug operation by Beijing police in the nearby Sanlitun bar district had put many of Beijing's black residents on edge. In what witnesses say appeared to be a racially motivated exercise, about 30 African and Caribbean men, including the son of Grenada's ambassador, were arrested and some badly beaten early on September 22.
'The city is a more frightening place now,' said Michael, a 25-year-old businessman from Uganda, who did not want to give his full name. 'Since hearing about what happened that night, I've been very careful about where I go in Beijing. And I always bring my passport to prove that I'm here legally.'
Beijing's Public Security Bureau denied black men were the focus of the operation. A spokesman told the Associated Press that the action was 'aimed at rectifying social order'. Few among Beijing's African community appear to believe them. But many concede that there is a drug problem - and most cite the city's growing Nigerian population.
'Everyone knows they're the ones selling drugs here ... what they do gives Africans a bad name,' one high-ranking African diplomat said.
Others contend the size of the Nigerian population in Beijing makes them an easy target.
