Stabbing in Sanlitun Brings Back Bad Memories of Last Summer

Steven Schwankert | Feb 28, 2014 6:30 pm | 10 comments | 8094 reads

Here we go again? Reports of a stabbing in Sanlitun are bringing back bad memories of the summer of 2013, when personal safety became a concern following a series of violent incidents.

According to Beijing Times, a "black man" was stabbed around 4am on Tuesday, with initial reports coming from Sina Weibo user 小红鞋爱TATTO, who was out buying food in a lane west of Sanlitun Lu. He described the ground as "covered with blood," blood that was still visible the following day when a Beijing Times reporter visited the area. A nearby shopowner said it looked like his "intestines had fallen out." The man was treated at Beijing Military General Hospital, and his wounds are serious but not life-threatening. The perpetrators have not been identified and the matter is currently under investigaton by the Chaoyang District Public Security Bureau, the report said.

Ok, don't panic. Although last summer saw a stabbing incident outside Joy City Chaoyang that killed two people including an American woman, and was followed by other knife attacks and an explosion at Beijing Capital International Airport, it just means two things: be careful, use common sense, and don't suddenly think Beijing is absolutely unsafe. Sanlitun at night seems to be an area of concern, avoid walking through there late alone at night.

Other violent incidents from previous years include American Howard Thomas Mills, who was stabbed to death at Qianmen, on July 12, 2012; that incident continued a string of attacks directed at foreigners that included an assault on a Beijinger contributor. The early days of the 2008 Olympic Games were marred when Todd Bachman, father-in-law of the US men's volleyball coach, was stabbed to death at the Drum Tower on August 9, 2008. His wife, Barbara, survived the attack.

Keep your wits about you as you go out this weekend, and don't forget to carry your passport.

Thanks Beijing Cream for posting the first report on this.

Photo: the Beijinger

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charlesliu's picture charlesliu Submitted by Guest on Mon, 03/03/2014 - 14:14

Thanks for the D Adams help, BBH; too bad the movie sucked.

If we're all going to talking about the "truth" about SLT, then let's keep going with the anecdotal stories:

The last time I was in a SLT bar street, it was some packed bar with a second floor with a view of the lower floor (you tell me which one it was). We went upstairs because it was too jammed downstairs, and after a while of going up and "still not feeling it", we saw this one dude put another dude in a headlock and march together along the second-floor pathway, down the stairs, and out the club. If the fact that the guy in the headlock didn't offer any resistance wasn't weird enough, the fact that the head-locking man's entourage dutifully followed him without a word or betrayed any awkwardness to the proceedings.

We thought it was some kind of prank among friends. It was weird, but got weirder when we went outside a few minutes after the "headlock gang" left: that's where we found some guy, walking around in a daze, face completely covered in blood.

It could have been some other guy that wasn't headlocked, I suppose. We ran for our lives.

Well, we did until we stopped for tacos on the way home.

BumbleBeeTou's picture BumbleBeeTou Submitted by Guest on Mon, 03/03/2014 - 12:47

admin wrote:
NoReservations wrote:
Also, equating times square to sanlitun bar street is a bit of a stretch.

I'd say it's not a stretch at all. Sanlitun is instantaneously recognizable to virtually everyone under 50 years old across China as the capital's key party zone. Foreign tourists know it even better as it's written up in virtually every tour book.

So in this regard, the comparison to Times Square is very apt

The difference is, IMHO, that someone in Europe, or Australia, who has never been to NY, is a lot more likely to have heard of Times Square, than they are SLT.

admin's picture admin Submitted by Guest on Mon, 03/03/2014 - 09:16

NoReservations wrote:
Also, equating times square to sanlitun bar street is a bit of a stretch.

I'd say it's not a stretch at all. Sanlitun is instantaneously recognizable to virtually everyone under 50 years old across China as the capital's key party zone. Foreign tourists know it even better as it's written up in virtually every tour book.

So in this regard, the comparison to Times Square is very apt

Books by current and former Beijinger staffers

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solarioho's picture solarioho Submitted by Guest on Sun, 03/02/2014 - 11:19

No thanks, last time I was there about 3 weeks ago I saw 2 guys beating another guy with a bloody head, and as he ran away a random stranger kicked him. Someone looked at me as if to share a laugh, but the guy's face was so bloody and he couldn't even run straight, almost falling over. He was hurt pretty badly, it was not funny.

I don't personally feel any danger in most places around Beijing. My point is that any fight here automatically involves weapons, it goes way too far, way too fast.

Don't know what's going through your mind, but usually when someone gets stabbed in a busy popular place for tourists and locals it makes the news. I didn't see much sensationalism, beyond stating what happened. Just because it happens in every city doesn't make it normal or ok. Maybe that's what you really have a problem with, you seem fine with the fact that it's occuring, but just don't want it reported.

You should watch some American news, that is sensationalism. Every other product you buy could kill you, and dangerous news reports every single day. The news here is quite and tame and positive by comparison.

NoReservations's picture NoReservations Submitted by Guest on Sat, 03/01/2014 - 12:43

Still thoroughly disagee with your points. Also, equating times square to sanlitun bar street is a bit of a stretch. Do you speak to your doctor and police friends often to get this concrete evidence of regular gruesome fights and attacks?Or are you just going on hearsay from people who believe and exaggerate these over-sensationalised articles? Furthermore, I suggest you venture back into Sanlitun, to see for yourself how safe it really is.

solarioho's picture solarioho Submitted by Guest on Sat, 03/01/2014 - 10:27

Those attacks make the news because they are often unprovoked and committed by strangers in the middle of the day in a very busy public place. You're comparison is totally wrong. If there were a stabbing in NYC at Times Square in the middle of the day it would also be sensationalized. not to mention all the other stabbings and violent incidents here that don't make the news. Talk to a doctor or a policeman if you want a real idea about incidents in this city, because the news doesn't usually cover it. not exaggerating, every single fight I have seen in Beijing involved weapons, bottles, bricks, chairs, etc. Doesn't seem so safe to me when a very minor disagreement can easily end with a brick to the head. It's not nonsese that there are regualrly very gruesome fights and attacks in one of the city's most popular areas to go out at night, (one of the reasons I don't go to sanlitun anymore). Oh but no need to worry, since these things are always done by people with "mental illness."

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