The battle for Christmas is underway with hotels in Beijing jostling to outdo one another to grab a slice of the festive action.

Christmas Eve events and Christmas dinner are the focus of the battle.

The cost of lavish Christmas dinners continue to soar. Last week, Beijing Weekend revealed the priciest Christmas dinner in town: 9,888 yuan (US$1,191) per person at the swanky Beijing Hotel near Tian'anmen Square.

This week,that record was broken by Huahui Jinrun Hotel, which is pricing a VIP ticket at 9,999 yuan (US$1,204).

That includes a one-night stay in a luxury suite, a grand dinner and Christmas performances in the hotel.

Huahui Jinrun's other VIP tickets go for 888 yuan (US$107), 5,888 yuan (US$710) or 8,888 yuan (US$1,070) per person.

Persuading people to part with that sort of money needs some fancy gimmicks and special service. Buying a Christmas Eve ticket at the Huahui Jinrun brings with it the chance to win a Honda Fit car worth more than 90,000 yuan (US$10,843) in a lucky draw.

Back at the Beijing Hotel, the total cost of a Christmas dinner in the Emperor or Presidential suite comes to a whopping 59,328 yuan (US$7,148) as it's only available for groups of six. That's just for Christmas dinner!

Who is willing - or indeed able - to fork out such a ludicrous amount of money? According to hotel spokesman Tian Yu, these super-pricey tickets are aimed at the super-rich who are curious to find out how a visiting president would live in Beijing. That ultimate taste of the high life enjoyed by the privileged few comes at a price that the very wealthy are prepared to pay.

Not many people have the opportunity to find out how a world leader is treated during a visit to China's capital. Booking the hotel's Presidential Suite for a day generally costs around US$9,000.

Meanwhile the exact details of the Christmas menu and entertainment are still being finalized, according to Tian.

The added attraction of being able to look out over the Forbidden City while standing at the window of the Emperor's suite on the 17th floor is another key selling point.

"Most ordinary people cannot understand what these rich people are thinking when they enjoy the Christmas feast in a deluxe environment, and vice-visa," said Wang Qinping, a sociologist of Beijing University. "But we know Christmas Day is a time of family gathering and self confession to God in the Western world. It is a day for all people, not only for the rich."

Wang said such a lopsided pattern of consumption would simply not exist if such people understood the real religious meaning of Christmas Day.

Tao Hongwei, vice-PR manager of The Penninsula Palace Hotel, admitted to a dilemma when preparing for Christmas Day.

"Most of the tickets range from 800 yuan (US$96) per person to 1,500 yuan (US$180). The cost of Christmas dinner is about 400 yuan (US$48)," Tao said. "Most of the rest of the ticket price is used for paying for the Christmas performance, decoration and advertisements."

The payment for each performer increases sixfold on Christmas Day. The cost for a Christmas performance ranges from 100,000 yuan (US$12,048) to 300,000 yuan (US$36,145). And even a luxurious Christmas tree over high four metres costs 50,000 yuan (US$6,024), according to Tao.

"Apart from a few hotels, most of the others in Beijing suffer a loss for a Christmas celebration," Tao said. "But we cannot give up. It would be terrible thing for a star hotel not to have any Christmas promotion and celebration."

The increasingly competitive market in Beijing pushes hotels into trying to outdo one another, Tao admitted.

For better or worse, the battle for Christmas is well and truly underway...
 
(Beijing Weekend December 19, 2003)