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Dark restaurants mushrooming on Chinese mainland

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-01-15 11:07

China will soon have ten "dark restaurants", according to a source at Asia's first dark restaurant in Beijing, known as the "whale's stomach".

Located near the Beijing World Trade Center, the "whale's stomach" will open on January 20. It is totally dark inside the restaurant. Customers have to be led to their seats by waiters, who wear special night vision glasses.

Dark restaurants in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Dalian and Hangzhou will open after the Spring Festival from February 18 to 24, and preparations are underway for others in Hong Kong, Macau, Tokyo, Seoul and Singapore.

The "Whale's Stomach" predicts that young Asians will love dark restaurants. There will soon be 30 dark restaurants in Asia, including 15 on China's mainland.

The world's first dark restaurant was opened in Zurich, Switzerland in 1999, by a blind priest. Since then, dark restaurants have caught on in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia and Russia.