Source: Xinhua

01-08-2009 09:41

Special Report:   Global Financial Crisis

CHANGSHA, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Even at midnight, Jiefang West Road, a bar street in Changsha, Hunan Province, is still crowded. A first-time visitor wouldn't think that the economic slowdown was having any impact on this well-known nightspot.

Changsha, home to "Super Girl" -- the Chinese version of "American Idol" -- is one of China's most consumption-loving cities. Its 165 recreational venues -- including theaters, show bars, pubs and karaoke salons -- host nearly 350,000 people each night, equivalent to 17 percent of its downtown population, according to figures from the local cultural bureau.

But below the surface, there's uncertainty. Li Zhi, chairman of Glamor, the chain that owns the oldest and most popular club on Jiefang, said she has "felt the chill" of recession.

"The good news is we still have a full house today. The bad news? Our daily sales have dropped 30 percent since November. Customers who used to buy two bottles of liquor now buy only one bottle."

Li said she would only have her flagship pub, We Young, which is also the headquarters of her chain, on Jiefang West Road open during the Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 26 this year.

Offshoots in Nanjing, Shenzhen, Zhengzhou, Xi'an and Wuhan have already been closed.