Watching a movie at the cinema is still the top entertainment
option for China's urban residents despite the slump in the
nation's movie market in recent years.
According to a survey by the China Film Association in Beijing,
Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Hangzhou, 40 per cent of
participants prefer to go to the cinemas for entertainment.
Movies are followed by web-surfing, TV-watching, reading,
sports, electronic games and karaoke as the top entertainment
choices.
Disaster films lead the pack, followed by sci-fi movies, war
films and romances, according to the survey.
Before the 1990s when TVs were luxurious commodities for most
Chinese families, the cinema used to be a haven for young people to
have first dates. Many middle-aged Chinese still recall sitting in
a playground to see an "outdoor movie."
Young people aged between 18 and 26, most of whom are company
employees and students, make up the majority of the movie audience,
accounting 47.8 per cent of the total, said the survey.
At the same time, the frequency of cinema-going does not grow
with a higher income.
The survey showed that citizens with a salary of less than 1,000
yuan (US$120) account for one third of total audiences.
One problem, however, is prices. The cost of tickets has soared
to an unbearable high for some moviegoers, said Hao Dong, of the
China Film Association.
The price of going to the cinema has increased to 20 or 30 yuan
(US$2.4-3.6), or even more than 50 yuan (US$6) from 8 yuan (less
than US$1) 10 years ago in many Chinese cities.
Such a trend inevitably leads to a flood of pirated but cheap
VCDs/DVDs and hurt the healthy development of Chinese movie
industry, said Hao.
In fact, Chinese cinema has changed so rapidly that the theatre
is no longer the only place that people can enjoy a movie.
More and more people choose to see movies on TV, VCD or DVD or
download them from broadband Internet connections, the survey
showed.
(China Daily October 6, 2004)