On a typical Friday evening, when bars throughout the world are usually packed with party animals out for a good time, bartender Li Xiaowei idly smokes a cigarette outside of the pub he works at. Next to him, two bored barmaids play cards.

The glitzy strip of bars along the canal in Yuandadu Historic Relic Park in northeast Beijing has never taken off like its more raucous older sibling, the Sanlitun area. While the bars in Sanlitun are packed with locals and expatriates almost seven days a week, the watering holes in Yuandadu struggle to attract customers even on the weekends, despite the fact that the strip opened a year and a half ago.

But Li hopes things might change this summer, and with good reason: the World Cup looms on the horizon, and the business potential is enormous.

"This opportunity only happens once every four years. If we miss this, we will miss it forever," Li says.

Throughout the month-long World Cup finals, when the world's best football players battle for individual and national glory as rabid fans across the planet cheer for their favourites, the disruption to normal business activities is expected to take its toll on the local economy. But many entrepreneurs are eagerly looking for inventive ways to capitalize on this golden opportunity and profit from the hoopla. Bars are among the lucky businesses that are expected to benefit from the tournament.

The traditional problem with the World Cup period boils down to simple gender politics. Broadly speaking, men tend to like football, and women generally don't, so bars provide an ideal venue for male bonding away from home.

Ten years ago, the only choice for a night out in the nation's capital was the Sanlitun area. With its proximity to the city's main embassy districts, Sanlitun is regarded as the birthplace of Beijing's bar culture. But in recent years, a number of new commercial districts have begun developing throughout the city, including those around the leafy lakeside area of Houhai, Xing Ba Lu near the Kempinski Hotel, and Yuandadu Historic Relic Park.

Yuandadu Park was constructed along the northern part of the city wall of Beijing in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). Shortly after Mongolian troops occupied most of China, Kublai Khan, the first emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, ordered his men to establish the city of Beijing. The city wall has since gradually fallen into disrepair, so the municipal government restored the wall and made it a park that opened to the public in 2004.

"Maybe business hasn't been good because this area is not well-known to many people and we are not close to the foreign embassies or high-end office buildings. Some of our neighbours even closed last year," Li says.

But the bartender is keeping his fingers crossed, because summer business prospects look bright. Bar owners along the tree-lined canal are working on a make-or-break promotion for the World Cup period. With over 20 bars on the strip, each one will represent a different national football team. Special decorations, flags, football jerseys, and large posters featuring the world's biggest stars will be put up to further generate interest.

"It will be a promotion for the whole strip, not just one or two individual bars," says Wang Ge, a former Sanlitun bar owner who is now working as a consultant to the independent committee of bar owners on the Yuandadu strip.

"Bar owners will get together in the following weeks to discuss how to co-operate and avoid vicious competition during the World Cup. They are all in the same boat, and everybody will benefit if the area becomes a big hit during the tournament. But if this doesn't work, the area might not recover for years to come."

Wang remembers being so busy during the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan that he had to ask one barmaid to politely stop customers from coming into his bar. Every single seat was taken.

"I hope this year's World Cup will help the businesses here," Wang says.

The tournament also holds promise for other businesses throughout Beijing.

Human and Auto, a weekly automotive newspaper launched last year, is holding a "Beijing's Top 50 World Cup Bars" contest. The newspaper plans to distribute 660,000 copies with a detailed map of the winning venues.

"We hope to attract more advertisers and readers during the campaign, because most of the city will be in the grip of World Cup fever," says Song Tingfeng, an advertising executive at Human and Auto.

Song says the bars will be ranked based on a number of factors, such as the availability of parking, the number and size of TV screens, the size of the bars and the atmosphere.

"People go to bars to experience the atmosphere, so they need to have big screens," Song says.

Zhang Feng, a local football fan, says he will probably still go to bars to watch the games this year, but he is also considering other options. Since the games won't come on until almost midnight due to the time difference, Zhang will play football with his friends in the evening. After playing, they will stay on the pitch and watch the games outside.

"After kicking the ball around, I don't want to look for a bar. I'd almost rather just sit down, drink beer, and watch the action in the summer breeze," Zhang says.

Zhang's favourite local field is Taiyanggong Football Club, near the capital's Fourth Ring Road, which was opened by former professional baseball player Luo Peng and an ex-footballer in March. The club has four pitches that can be used for five-a-side matches.

Luo is going to build a temporary bar next to his football field. He will also install two large screens and overhead projectors.

"Unlike bars, I use my football pitches to attract customers. You can't find this in other places," Luo says.

"It is my first time to try this. If it is successful, I will probably try it again for other sporting events."

(China Daily 05/22/2006 page4)