Biz Scene: Biz unusual

Chocolate enterprise

While most university graduates are busy searching the job market, Gao Changzhuang, a university student in Shenyang, decided to open a chocolate store after he realized he had spent too much money on the dessert.

In Gao's shop, buyers can make chocolate themselves. It is the first such shop in the city and has quickly become popular with local people. The most frequent customers are young lovers, who enjoy the romance of making chocolate, Gao said.

Gao said he was considering expanding through more franchise stores.

Plate number auction

An auction for car plate numbers was recently held in Guangzhou and 143 of the total 150 numbers were sold at a total volume of over 8 million yuan.

The most expensive plate was A000A1, priced at 420,000 yuan. The starting price of the number was 5,000 yuan, and was finally purchased by the owner of a Mercedes-Benz.

The most popular numbers are those ending with eight or nine. "It feels great driving a car with a good number," said one of the buyers who declined to be named.

Marriage therapy

A training agency in Beijing has recently started a training course for couples with marriage problems. It can help couples rebuild their troubled relations, the company said in an advertisement.

Eighteen couples attended the course, which costs 8,600 yuan per couple. A couple started to communicate after one class, but instead of recovering the relationship, the two started to quarrel again.

They are not alone in finding out that the course did not work. Many complained and wanted to quit, but the lecturer said the students' expectation was too high.

(China Daily 06/19/2007 page15)