Beijing Vice

Number of English-speaking pimps and prostitutes working the two blocks between the Beijing Sheraton and the nearest subway stop at 10:30 pm on a Friday night: 5.

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Number of English-speaking pimps and prostitutes working the two blocks between the Beijing Sheraton and the nearest subway stop at 10:30 pm on a Friday night: 5. While the Chinese authorities take a hard line on Google, Facebook, and Twitter, they are very casual about recreational vice. Drugs are theoretically very illegal, but (I'm told by residents) police shrug at the sale of hashish from hundreds of small shops all over the capital.