Biz Scene: BIZ UNUSUAL

Miaohui stall sets record

The bid for a snack stall at the Longtan Spring Festival Temple Fair, or miaohui, broke the record with 51,600 yuan in Beijing this year.

Mr Ma, who paid the price, has been selling barbecue at the fair for three years in a row. Last year he paid 30,000 yuan for the stall, and sold over 130,000 yuan worth of product within seven days.

"I will have to keep the 'golden stall' this year," he said, adding that he will continue to sell barbecue this year.

Miaohui usually lasts for seven days during the Spring Festival holiday. Folk handicrafts are presented alongside various traditional Beijing snacks. A total of 168 snack stalls, 293 handicraft stalls, and 36 stalls for games were sold in this year's auction.

Chopstick shops pick profit

In Zhang Jun's chopstick shop, the prices of chopsticks range from hundreds of yuan to 10,000 yuan. The sales income of his shop amounted to 50 million yuan last year, but he is not satisfied.

Zhang's family had been in the chopstick business for several generations at his hometown Jiangxi. They were involved in every phase of production from planting bamboo to making it into chopsticks, but they hardly made any profit.

Things started to change when Zhang Jun decided to open his own stores. He set up his chain store at Wangfujing Street and then expanded to Hong Kong. His chopsticks were even bought abroad by some foreign merchants. He has also become the supplier for Olympic products.

(China Daily 01/30/2007 page15)