This year's Pudong Global Carnival in Shanghai made a successful curtain call yesterday, attracting a record-high of over 100,000 visitors to the last-day show, the Oriental Morning Post reported.

About 3,000 visitors were queueing at the entrance at 9.30 am, forcing the organizer to open the door 10 minutes before normal, the organizer said.

A couple at the FLume Ride said they had started to line up at noon and did not have their turn until 4.30 pm.

On Saturday, visitors hit 80,000, also easily beating the park's previous daily record of 50,000 achieved during the week-long National Day holiday.

The free-entrance and lowered charges on some rides attracted many visitors, industry-insiders noted.  During the last three days, the organizer canceled the 50-yuan (US$6.2) entrance fee and offered discounts on five rides, with the Flume Ride, for example, being chopped from eight tokens, or 40 yuan, to two.

Despite the throngs of people at the final show, the organizer said it wouldn't be enough to put the carnival in the black. Without the wet weekends, delayed opening and an employee accident during the event, it would have seen a return of 20 percent or more.

The organizer declined to specify the income, disclosing only that it had welcomed 1 million visitors since opening on September 30, two days later than scheduled.

Operators of food stands in the carnival park echoed the disappointment at business-levels, complaining that the daily gross profit barely exceeded 1,000 yuan.

"Particularly in the middle of the carnival, business was flat," said Zhang Liping, who rented a booth in the park's food square for 70,000 yuan.

"Most of the visitors were young students, who have limited budgets," she said, adding that many business operators had to cease operating before the carnival ended.

(Shanghai Daily November 22, 2005)