Auction hits high for temple fair in Ditan Park

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-23 11:34

Despite auctioneer warnings of "being calm and not too impulsive", the bidding for food stalls at the 2010 Lunar New Year Fair in Ditan Park was tense and fierce. The most expensive stall went under the hammer for 300,000 yuan, a 110,000-yuan increase on last year.

Gu Shengli, an Inner Mongolian barbecue kebab seller, dwarfed the competition once again to become the auction's top bidder for five consecutive years. His 300,000-yuan bid is five times more than the price he paid in 2005.

Two other stalls were bought for 200,000 yuan, both of which surpassed last year's most expensive stall. In total, 40 food stalls were auctioned off last Saturday with each hitting a 20 to 30 percent increase in their auction price, according to the administration office of the park.

"The price is higher than I hoped," Gu told METRO after Saturday's auction. He still saw a chance to turn a profit though.

In addition to his famous 10-yuan Arabian-flavored kebabs, known as the "trump card" of his stall, Gu will sell ostrich meat kebabs and other "secret weapons" to attract customers.

"This fair is the best way to promote my brand," he said.

Ditan Park, or Temple of Earth, annually holds Beijing's most popular temple fair. The event only occurs in the Chinese Lunar New Year and will also celebrate its 25th anniversary from Feb 13 to 20 next year.

Gu's No 18 stall, located at the crossing of the two major roads in the east of the park, brought in profit of more than 300,000 yuan from 12,000 kebabs in this year's fair with 1.1 million visitors over the 8-day period, according to the Beijing Morning Post.

However, some bidders at the auction complained that the price had gone "irrationally high".

A man in his twenties surnamed Wang said he hoping to sell a traditional Guangdong snack of meatballs, but he finally gave up when his intended stall's auction price climbed out of his reach.

"I really don't know how anyone can make money out of these stalls in only eight days," Wang said.

Temple fairs are held from the first day to the seventh day of the lunar calendar's first month. They evolved from ceremonies of offering to village gods in the Liao dynasty (916-1125 AD), into an outdoor market celebrations.