Customers chat leisurely on stools laid in graceful disorder in an orange-floored room, illuminations hanging from the ceiling glitter and various drinks adorn the bar counter.
But this is not a trendy new bar; it's the lobby of the Red Orient Cinema Center, one of the two modern cinemas in Lanzhou, a city in underdeveloped inland China.
Going to slap-up cinemas is becoming one of the most popular pastimes for young Chinese at weekends -- along with bars and karaoke parlors -- in a country where the film industry had been depressed for more than 10 years.
"It may be a signal of the industry's recovery," said Yan Bing, manager of the Red Orient.
Film was once the most popular entertainment among Chinese people. In the early 1980s box office revenue in Gansu Province totaled more than 30 million yuan (about US$3.6 million) per year with tickets costing just a few jiao (1 jiao equivalent to 0.1 yuan).
The industry began to suffer in the 1990s, especially when televisions became common in Chinese households. Gansu's box office earnings in 2000 were only 3 million yuan despite ticket prices of 15 yuan ($1.8) each.
Analysts say defects in cinemas themselves, such as cramped space, creaky seats, foul air and outdated acoustic equipment, helped restrict the industry's development. But, things are changing. China has built 15 five-star cinemas since 2003, when the nation officially began to classify its cinemas for the first time.
The Red Orient is one. The newly opened cinema has four film projection rooms equipped with digital technology, Yan said.The first five-star cinema in Beijing, UME International Cineplex, boasts an unusually large screen of 430 square meters and 1,200 seats with 1.2 meters between each row. Moviegoers can buy tickets on the POS and film posters in special shops there.
The number of cinemas has also soared. China had 36 cinema chains with 1,188 theaters and 2,396 screens as of 2004, said Tong Gang, director of the Film Bureau of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.
Poor quality is another reason Chinese film fell out of favor, said Jiao Bingkun, former president of Lanzhou Film Studio.
"Technology ranging from shooting to editing in domestic films was backward, which made audiences turn to TV programs." But the past year was exciting for industry insiders, media and movie critics as well, given the fact that three Chinese films -- House of Flying Daggers by Zhang Yimou, Kung Fu Hustle by Hong Kong comedy star Stephen Chow and A World Without Thieves by Feng Xiaogang -- topped domestic box office at 153 million, 125 million and 101 million yuan respectively.
China shot a record 212 films in 2004, a 50 percent increase over 2003, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said, adding that total box office revenue in 2004 totaled 1.57 billion yuan (about US$189 million).
Analysts are optimistic about the Chinese film industry, saying its momentum is favorable thanks to the improved cinemas and films.
"We have the potential to raise box office revenue to 5 billion yuan (US$602 million) in 2005," said Kang Jianmin, executive vice-president of the China Film Association.
(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2005)
