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No shows, no games as whole nation grieves

By Wang Yan and Huang Yuli (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-22 08:02

BEIJING -- Theaters, cinemas, KTVs and amusement parks were closed nationwide on Wednesday as the country grieved for victims killed in the earthquake in Qinghai's Yushu prefecture.

"We called each customer who booked rooms today, asking them to switch to another time, and they all showed understanding," said a staff member surnamed Diao at the Cashbox Party World KTV in Chaoyang district.

"Several customers came this morning to inquire when we would re-open for business, but no one was here for singing today. They all knew about the closings."

Diao claimed his company is not worried about financial losses. "It's nothing compared with the losses of lives in the earthquake."

College students Lai Lifei and Xian Hui, who had made a date to watch a movie together at the Beijing Capital Cinema on Wednesday, were told the cinema was closed.

Hanging on the wall were announcements of the cinema being closed for the day. Pictures of quake victims flashed on several big screens in the waiting hall, which usually show popular movie trailers.

Although the girls had traveled a long way to get together, they said they were willing to give up the movie. "We totally understand," Lai said, adding she and Xian would just take a walk and have a girls' chat.

Yu Chao, vice-general manager of the cinema, said that he and his colleagues would likely see many more customers like Lai and Xian.

"We usually have about a thousand guests during the day, and the number is about two to three times that in the evening," Yu said.

"We were informed of the national day of mourning at noon yesterday. By then dozens of tickets for today had been sold out. Guests are welcome to visit the cinema to reschedule or get a refund on their tickets," he said.

Most of the staffers got the day off, and the company arranged for them to go to a tree-planting in the suburbs, in the hopes of doing something good for society, he said.

In a board game bar in Beijing, Shen Zijie, the 25-year-old owner, said his bar had decided to stop providing gaming services on Wednesday.

"You're welcome to stay here and do whatever you like. But no games, sorry," he told two young men who came to the bar about 3 pm on Wednesday. The guests said they were OK with the decision.

The situation was similar in other cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou.

In Shanghai, all shows were suspended. At an Internet cafe on busy East Nanjing Road, operators banned users from playing computer games.

In Guangzhou, department stores stopped playing background music on Wednesday, and in home appliance stores, most of the TV sets on display showed quake-related programs.

Meanwhile, all local Chinese websites displayed black-and-white homepages with entertainment news blocked.

A click on the "entertainment" channel of sohu.com, one of China's main portals, led to news of earthquakes, and the same click on youku.com, China's biggest video website, led to the donation accounts of the Red Cross Society of China and China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation.

"We don't expect the visits to our website to be greatly influenced since the block lasts only one day," said an employee of youku.com surnamed Pan.

All residents interviewed by China Daily said their lives would not be affected by the no-entertainment rule on Wednesday.