It's a regular weeknight at a speakeasy bar in Beijing's Chaoyang district. With its dim lights, lit candles, and the smell of sandalwood in the air, the bar used to be a popular enclave for people living in the neighborhood.
But it's been about a week since it opened after a two-month closure due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, and business has been slightly on the rocks.
Interior of Bronze bar. /Courtesy of Jin Lei
In a bar of about eight tables "usually, we only have one or two tables empty, now it's three or four," said Jin Lei, owner of Bronze bar.
As COVID-19 spreads worldwide, restrictions have tightened on eating and entertainment establishments, with some cities – like Hong Kong, Singapore, and London – shutting down bars and clubs to prevent people from gathering in large numbers.
Delivering happy hours
After a two-month hiatus, most dining establishments that are just reopening are finding it hard to square with the new reality of social distancing. And this is especially acute for bars, which are places for people to gather and unwind.
"After all, people come to bars for the ambiance; it's better to drink cocktails on-the-spot," said Jin.
For bars that are hard pressed, however, bottling cocktails and delivering them is one way to keep business afloat, while opening up a new way of selling alcohol beyond the coronavirus, as Bronze has done.
Bottled cocktails complete with embellishments. /Courtesy of Jin Lei
It's not just making and bottling cocktails however, but figuring out which are suited for delivery. For example, a cocktail like mojito that requires freshly crushed mint is more difficult to package than an old fashioned, which has a simpler recipe. There is also the issue of increased costs that come with bottling and labeling.
"Cocktails with stronger alcohol content are made and frozen, while those with lemon juice and sugar need to be made and packed immediately. There are too many types of cocktails, and we're still in the process of deciding which are suitable for bottling," Jin said, adding that "we are still bouncing off ideas with regulars to find out what works and what doesn't."
The bottled cocktails are currently selling for 68 yuan a bottle, compared to a price tag of between 80 and 90 yuan at the bar itself.
Bigger establishments, like UNION at The Opposite House, which sells bespoke cocktails, have also taken to delivering cocktails and wine, but are coupling that with instructional videos.
"We have launched our wine delivery packages along online tasting videos so that people can enjoy and learn from home," said Mark Passmore, General Manager at The Opposite House.
Screenshot of wine-pairing video /Courtesy of The Opposite House
Dining and entertainment establishments hit hard
With the worst of the outbreak over in China, authorities remain cautiously optimistic. Even as the country's workforce returns to work, it's not quite business as usual, yet.
As of March 16, only 60 percent of businesses have resumed operations, which is slower than the manufacturing sector, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.
"Dine-in remains restricted due to prevention and control of the disease," explained Zhu Xiaoliang, director of the Department of Market System Development of the Ministry of Commerce, adding "Though the situation in China is getting much better, we're still faced with a pandemic spreading worldwide. It takes time to see consumer confidence come back."
A worker wearing a face mask and goggles guides customers to a table at a restaurant in a shopping mall in Beijing. /AP
This has put a considerable strain on smaller establishments like Bronze that still has to pay rent and half of workers' salary despite being unopened for two months.
These were, Jin explained, key reasons why he decided to reopen the bar despite limited foot traffic and also experimenting with cocktail delivery despite the increase in costs to claw back some business.
"The cost is high, but it's better than not having any net profit at all," quipped Jin.
Meanwhile, bigger businesses are using the down time for staff training amid the outbreak.
"With minimal business, it has allowed us to retrain many team members and offer them cross training in other areas they typically wouldn't work in, this enriches our team members knowledge as well as allowing us to be more flexible when business does return," Passmore explained.
Read more: Restaurants looking for ways to get through coronavirus outbreak
Balancing business and infection risks
As businesses gradually begin opening, they are also faced with the balancing act of increasing sales while managing coronavirus infection risks.
In Beijing, virus prevention and control measures differ from one restaurant to the next – with some allowing group dining and others advocating having only a single person at a table or only allowing 15 people in a restaurant at one time.
Restaurants and bars CGTN spoke to said these rules are sent through chat groups according to geographical locations. This means regulations and enforcement may differ from community to community.
"A distance of one meter, loving you and me," reads a poster outside a bar in Beijing. Vanessa Gu/CGTN
The Opposite House is ramping up on cleaning and social distancing between customers "such as accepting table of three people and or less per table and setting up one-meter space between tables," according to Tsou, and also checking temperatures and travel history.
Bronze has taken similar measures, but has an added requirement of making sure every patron has their residential entry card, because "this means they have been cleared by their community," said Jin.
With these stringent measures impeding business, the Ministry of Commerce on March 19 said it will soon release a "circular on resumption of work for life service industry based on different grades and sectors, including removing unreasonable restrictions and supporting service providers in speedy business resumption."
There's no saying when life will go back to normal for both bars and revelers looking to have a good time.
For Jin it's when "a vaccine is developed and the epidemic is over." And for Passmore, it's "As spring arrives in Beijing and with the improvement on controlling the outbreak, we can see more people coming out and positive signs on business."
Until then, with working from home and social distancing still in place, maybe it's worth taking a shot at bottled cocktails and online wine tasting sessions.
(Cover: A bartender wearing a mask is seen at seul&SEUL restaurant in downtown Shanghai, China, as the country is hit by an outbreak of the novel coronavirus, February 12, 2020. /Reuters)