Yesterday was the 12th anniversary of 9/11. And one bar in Shenzhen, China apparently decided to throw a party—complete with unsettling cosplay. Hey, the bar said it was a fun party!
As pointed out by The Nanfang Insider, the event featured men in military- and Middle Eastern-style garb, brandishing weapons and shooting "Americans."
According to the bar's social networking account, this was a "Counter-Strike" party. Kotaku reached out to the Angel Baby Bar for clarification.
The bar's management told Kotaku that the date was picked because "it would draw attention attention to [the party]."
"We picked Counter-Strike as a theme for this party," a manager surnamed Wang told Kotaku, "because 9-11 had to deal with soldiers, conflict, and terrorists."
"It seemed like the right theme for this party," Ms. Wang added. "It was fun."
The event poster appears to read Counter-Strike in Chinese (反恐精英). The poster clearly reads "9.11 Wednesday" in Chinese. And as Kotaku reader Leiber notes, the poster doesn't even feature art from Counter-Strike. Instead, it features art from Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam.
There are also S.W.A.T. team cosplayers (in Counter-Strike S.W.A.T. is an in-game faction), and troops with armbands that seem to read, "Beer Inspector."
When asked whether or not she felt the party's theme was insensitive or if she had heard any complaints, Ms. Wang told Kotaku that she didn't get any negative feedback, adding that it was an enjoyable party.
This isn't the first military style game-infused event at this Shenzhen club. Last month, there was a Call of Duty-themed party, complete with folks dressing up in camo. The timing for that was okay, I guess. This? Not so much.
SHENZHEN BAR THROWS 9/11 PARTY [The Nanfang Insider]
AngelBabyBar [Official Site]
Eric Jou contributed to this report.
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