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UPDATED: December 26, 2011 NO.52 DECEMBER 29, 2011
Top 10 Cultural Events
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The bliss of hanging around in bookstores is disappearing as brick and mortar bookstores come under pressure from online book sellers (LIU XU)

Cheaper Books Online

Threatened by much cheaper prices at online marketplaces, brick and mortar bookstores are disappearing in cities.

While many bookstores have gone out of business, the market share of online booksellers has continued to expand. In addition to Dangdang and Joyo Amazon, many online vendors have joined the price war. 360buy began selling books at the end of 2010. Online sales of books and audio and video products are expected to be worth more than 500 million yuan ($78.75 million) in 2011.

Booklovers and bookstore owners are calling on the government to save traditional bookstores, because along with these bookstores, a lifestyle featuring the bliss of hanging around in bookstores is disappearing. The Chinese Government is planning to include private bookstores as beneficiaries of this policy to help them survive the competition.

Booming Movie Market

China's movie market continues to grow this year. While domestic box office revenue is expected to reach 13 billion yuan ($2 billion), Chinese movie theaters are adding eight more screens every day nationwide, or about 10,000 screens in total by the end of 2011.

Thanks to increasing diversity and the fact that more audiences go back to cinemas, some small-budget productions find chances to glitter and perform well at the box office.

Meanwhile, foreign film makers are trying their luck in this expanding market. While foreign faces are increasingly seen in the movie crew and cast of Chinese productions, China has further relaxed rules and regulations on movie cooperation. Six countries have so far signed cooperation agreements on movie production with China. The co-produced movies are treated as Chinese films for domestic distribution and are exempt from quota control, and are also protected in overseas markets.

A scene from the Chinese version of Mama Mia! (XU ZIJIAN)

The Musical Season

The past summer offered an interesting variety of musical performances. While the Chinese version of Mama Mia!, one of the most popular musicals in the world, tours China on a 200-performance run, homegrown musicals are also gaining ground.

Love U Teresa, an original musical about influential Taiwanese Chinese pop singer Teresa Teng (1953-95), has been staged in Beijing since August 5. The Broken Bridge, a large-scale musical featuring a cross-Straits love story spanning 60 years produced with funds from the Hangzhou Municipal Government, was staged in the famous tourism city in Zhejiang Province from September 15 to 22. Musicals for children, such as The Vagrant Life of Sanmao and Sesame Street, were also piquing the interest of younger audiences.

A real interest in musicals has been cultivated through overseas productions and Chinese-version reproductions. But musical professionals still have to cope with challenges such as a lack of talent and standards for producing quality musicals, while finding investments and heading towards profitability.

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