No more late nights at KTV joints

Shanghaiist loves singing, and was crowned as “Karaoke Queen” many, many times by our friends. But the new Entertainment Venues Management Regulations (in Chinese), which will take effect on March 1 -- tomorrow -- are going to seriously cut our time at local KTV joints. According to this Shanghai Daily report, entertainment venues shall be closed from 2 am to 8 am. The interesting thing is bars, clubs, internet cafes and spas are not subject to the new regulation, as they somehow don’t belong to entertainment venues category. (WTF?)

In this Sohu report (in Chinese), Zhang Xinjian, of the Ministry of Culture explains, entertainment venues refer to profit-oriented businesses like discos and gaming parlors. (Unlike bars, internet cafes and spas which ... um ... WTF?) He also added that 2 am to 8 am is a tough time for operators and government officials to supervise entertainment venues, and many accidents happen during those hours. Interesting.

Shanghai Daily also mentions the number of crimes -- including sex services, drug use, fires, intellectual property violations -- have been on the rise at such venues in recent years. But only between the hours of 2 am and 8 am, we assume.

Shanghaiist is happy to know the regulation also prohibits teenagers in entertainment venues -- brats -- and it’s now required that discos install closed circuit televisions at main passages, and they must ensure the monitoring system works during open hours. No view-restricting partitions should be installed in VIP suites of discotheques. (What could possibly be happening behind these partitions?) VIP rooms are not allowed to have locks that can be secured from inside. Local officials will be fired if their departments or subordinates operate entertainment facilities. Relatives of employees at cultural administration or public security bureaus also can't operate such businesses. But it seems anyone can open a "bar" and do whatever the hell they want. Which is fine with us.