Patrons of a bus-turned barbecue restaurant chow down in Beijing's Tongzhou district on April 27. Photo: CFP/cri.cn

Urban management officers in Beijing are grilling an owner of a barbecue restaurant who had put extra tables inside a converted city bus in order to dodge a recent crackdown on outdoor dining in Beijing.

The route 875 bus contained six tables and was without a license plate when chengguan officers forced the owner to remove it from outside his restaurant at the Xinhualian Residential Compound in Tongzhou district on April 27.

The owner explained he had bought the vehicle for 45,000 yuan ($7,191) from the local bus company in order to get around recent measures that restrict sidewalk dining.

"The officers did not allow me to put tables outdoors a few days ago, so I bought the bus," explained the owner, "I thought the officers would not stop me since I put them in bus."

Most patrons of the BBQ bus interviewed said they enjoyed the novelty of a bus restaurant. One local resident, surnamed Zhang, felt it unsafe.

Local authorities recently issued measures to restrict outdoor dining, among which requires all barbecue to be grilled indoors. The measures are to take effect May 1, and violators face fines up to 20,000 yuan, said the report.

Employees at the local bus company also said they would look further into how the owner acquired the city bus. 


Beijing Morning Post - Beijing Evening News

Web Editor: liyingxa@globaltimes.com.cn

Customers enjoy barbecue outside a bus converted into a small restaurant in Beijing's Tongzhou district. Photo: weibo.com