No luxury clubs in parks

Have you seen luxuriously decorated buildings that occupy large portions of public parks, with "members only" notice hanging on their gates? They are expected to disappear, going by a notice issued by the Beijing municipal government. The notice says all luxury entertainment clubs in public parks must be shut down and from now on, no part of a park would be rented out for similar use.

Many media outlets have hailed the move. Since parks are built on public land and run on public budgets, they are expected to serve the public. Luxury entertainment clubs thus violate the rights of the common people by monopolizing public resources for the use of a selected few.

Besides, officials use public money to pay most of the bills in such luxury clubs. With the country's top leadership banning extravagance at official events last year, many officials chose to hold lavish parties - with taxpayers' money, of course - in such clubs. So the ban will also help check corruption.