Although its business license was revoked four years ago, a karaoke bar continues to draw complaints from 300 different residents living nearby.
Tianyuan, a small and poorly equipped karaoke bar in Caoyang No. 1 Residential Area, has angered residents in the community since it opened in 1996.
"The noise starts about 2pm every day," said Zhu Yonggui, a senior resident of Caoyang. "Fights, quarrels, and singing make it impossible to rest. We lodged complaints to the authorities including the municipal government, the Putuo District government and the city's Environmental Protection Bureau. But it hasn't worked."
In 2000, more than 100 residents signed a letter that was sent to the municipal government. The karaoke bar was shut down. After one week, it resumed normal operations.
Surprised, the residents asked the Putuo government to resolve the situation. They were told that nothing could be done.
"We also feel sorry for the residents," said the director of the administrative office of Caoyang subdistrict government, surnamed Wang.
Caoyang Industry Company rented the space to Tianyuan in 1996. An official from Caoyang Industry refused to comment on the noise complaints yesterday.
An official with the district's culture supervisory authorities said yesterday that the bar's business license had been canceled.
She spoke on condition of anonymity and also said once the license was revoked, the document went missing. Tianyuan also failed to pass the Putuo District Environmental Protection Bureau's evaluation in 2001. Since then, the bar has been operating without a license.
The Putuo District Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau is the department that could shut down the karaoke bar. But an official from the bureau refused to comment yesterday.