When Chongqing police in 2010 raided the Diamond Dynasty to break up an alleged prostitution ring, it made international headlines as the nightclub was located inside the city’s Hilton hotel.
Diamond Dynasty – which was owned by an outside investor unrelated to the hotel – has since disappeared and everything has returned to normal at the Hilton. But appearances at the hotel hide major changes in the business: the man who owns the property is in jail and the state has taken control of his assets.
The case of the Chongqing Hilton illustrates the legacy of legal and financial chaos left behind by Bo Xilai, the city’s former Communist party secretary who was purged earlier this year.