CRI听力: Board Game Bars in Beijing

The recreational guide website Dianping.com says more than 500 board game bars have opened in Shanghai. Now it seems as though Beijing is following the trend. Some young people in the capital say they believe opening such a bar is a good career opportunity.

Let's follow our reporter to find out more.

Reporter:

Most cultures and societies throughout history have played board games. In China, Chinese chess and checkers are probably the most popular ones. But many young people are not interested in them, saying they are games for the elderly.

Xiao Han is a 27-year-old white-collar worker who is playing a game at a board game bar called "One-fourth."

"Chinese chess limits the number of players and is supposed to be quiet, but games here can be played among two to a dozen people and are funny. As you see, we talk and laugh all the time. Winning is not the aim. All I care about is that we have another interesting way of hanging out with friends."

It is said there are more than 5,000 board games over the world.

Ren Peisen, the 23-year-old owner of One-fourth, says it is impossible to offer all board games in one bar, but hundreds of choices are usually enough to satisfy different customers.

"Board game bars are still new in Beijing, so most of my customers are freshmen. I always try to introduce more games to them until they figure out the favorites. Experienced players can play Sanguosha all night long, and female customers prefer easy and happy games like Halli Galli."

Ren Peisen opened One-fourth along with three friends right after they graduated from college last summer. They did a lot of research on board game bar development in Shanghai and decided to open one of their own in the capital.

With help from their parents, the three rented a hotel room in downtown Beijing and purchased tables and hundreds of games.

"We started to make a profit in our fourth month. The tables are full on weekends. On weekdays, we have regular customers. Some of them come every Tuesday, and some come every Thursday."

Board game bars in Beijing usually charge each customer eight yuan per hour on weekdays and 15 yuan per hour on weekends.

In the meantime, online retailers are expecting to see good business from board games sales as well. Take the game Carcassonne for example. It will cost four people 60 yuan per hour to play it at a bar, but it will only cost 45 yuan to buy the game on the online retail website Taobao.com.

Ren Peisen says he is not worried about the competition from sellers of board games.(www.hXen.com)

"Board games can be played everywhere in homes or bars. They are not rivals to each other. Compared to homes, bars provide a better environment. You do not need to worry about bothering your parents or neighbors."

He believes board game bars in Beijing will develop fairly quickly during the next one to two years. But he worries about a time when too many bars will mushroom here, and people will become bored if game lists are not constantly updated.