Auction hits high for temple fair in Ditan Park

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.