Temple fairs still hot destinations during festival in Beijing

Commercial tenants ask for a reduction in rent

Commercial tenants, however, fail to obtain expected profits.

It is impossible for our reporters to get information from every tenant. But by talking to several tenants, we can get a general understanding of them as a whole.

A tenant, who is engaged in the sale of hand puppets and inflatable products, spent 15,000 yuan to win the bid and rent the stall. However, the daily operating income only amounts to around 1,500 yuan, which will lead to a loss of more than 30,000 yuan with purchasing and human labor costs taken into account based on a conservative estimate.

A tenant from the post-1980 generation, whose business deals with masks, did not hide his sadness. He mentioned that it is his first time doing business. He spent 20,000 yuan to rent the place, but up to the fourth day of the New Year, the operating income did not amount to even half of the costs, "I just want to die."

The tenants who have claimed losses put the blame on the organization of the fairs. On the third day of the New Year, the new Olympic Sports Center fair closed ahead of time; on the fourth day, tenants at two traditional fairs asked for a rent reduction. According to some tenants, the rise in rent prices will make what were always small profit margins even smaller.

Experts: survival of the fittest

Frustrations are reflected in the difficulty of making a profit at temple fairs

Most of the tenants asking for a rent reduction are those selling general stock and food.

In regards to this, some say that the bidding mechanism for stalls is not the main reason for the difficulty in making a profit. With monotonous items on sale, visitors are no longer interested and the general concept of the fair is weakened. All this gives rise to the chaotic state of commerce at the fairs. The tenants that are not able to remain competitive will be eliminated.

Wei Xiaoan, director of the academic committee with the China Tourism Research Institute says that temple fairs are part of our cultural heritage, and culture should be at the core, with commerce as an added value. Both of these things are necessary, but commercial priorities should not be placed above the cultural priorities.

Recently, we tried to investigate the financial statements of some tenants, visit with some traditional artists at the temple fairs and talk with the organizing staff and the visitors in order to gain a better understanding of the problems and eventually seek a solution.