Club 71, go-to bar for artists, activists and creatives in Hong Kong, to close – killed off by the coronavirus pandemic

Club 71, hit hard by a year of anti-government protests, and then by the Covid-19 pandemic, will close at the end of October

The bar – and its predecessor Club 64 – were known for cheap drinks and a clientele that included ‘Long Hair’ and filmmakers Christopher Doyle and Herman Yau

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Club 71 on Hollywood Road, Central. The 2019 anti-government protests and this year’s Covid-19 pandemic have put it out of business. Photo: Weng Tung

Published: 6:15pm, 29 Sep 2020Updated: 7:40pm, 29 Sep 2020

Club 71 – the favourite bar of a generation of Hong Kong political activists, artists and media figures – will close at the end of October after failing to resolve a rent dispute with its landlord.

Co-owner Grace Ma Lai-wah said that, while the bar’s rent had been lowered to HK$45,000 a month from September 2019 because of the impact of mass anti-government protests sparked by an extradition bill, the landlord had wanted to start charging the original rent of HK$63,000 again.

Ma said the bar in Hong Kong Island’s Central district had been unable to pay even the reduced rent for the past three months because of government-ordered bar closures amid the coronavirus crisis, and had no choice but to call last orders at the end of October.

She said there was no hope of reopening in a new location. “I have been losing money for so many years and I had been looking for someone to take over the business, but then came the anti-extradition protests and the coronavirus. I’m too tired … I’ve been working for the landlords for the past 30 years.”