Booking hotlines with the Xin Kaiyuan Hotels and Red Earth Restaurant, renowned low-price restaurants in the city, are busy these days and the restaurants have finished the booking service for the Nianyefan, as the seats are all booked out for the annual New Eve dinner on the Chinese New Year holiday.

The Shanghai City, a newly opened restaurant, has also booked out 80 percent of the seats for the dinner on that evening.

In contrast, city's star-rated hotels are reporting flat business, the Xinmin Evening News said.

Analysts in the dining industry attributed the lower prices to the hot business with the cheaper restaurants.

They said at these restaurants, the dinner will be around 100 yuan (US$12) for one person, while at the star hotels, the charge could triple that amount, they said.

Taking a bottle of coca-cola they said the drink, which sells for about 6 yuan at local supermarkets, is sold at 12 yuan at these cheap restaurants but carries a price tag of 30 yuan at the luxury hotels.

At some luxury hotels, a 15-percent service fee should be charged, they noted.

The cheerful and noisy atmosphere at the low-price restaurants is more suitable for Nianyefan compared with the star hotels, they added. For many Chinese people, the dinner is a time for family union and celebration.

(eastday.com December 3, 2002)