By Xinhua writer Miao Xiaojuan

    BEIJING, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chen Xiaojun, who works at the country's largest real estate developer, China Vanke, figured getting a year-end bonus was hopeless amid market turmoil, but she still wanted some holiday fun.

    In December, she watched four Chinese blockbusters, including "Forever Enthralled," a biopic about a Peking Opera master, and Feng Xiaogang's comedy "If You Are The One."

    "Every time I went to the cinema, it was packed like a sardine can. People seem to want more fun despite the economic turmoil," Chen said.

    Watching domestic blockbusters during the winter holiday season has become an annual ritual in China over the past decade. The holiday film habit started with the 100 million yuan (about 14.3 million dollars) box-office comedy "The Dream Factory," directed by Feng in 1997.

    A dozen domestic films debuted at the end of this year and the box office nationwide was encouraging. But how substantial is the boom?

    From late November to the end of Lunar New Year in early February, the mainland market would have 25 New Year films, of which nearly 20 were made in China. Gao Jun, vice director of the Beijing New Film Association, said the New Year film season showed that domestic films were flourishing.

    Gao predicted total box office would definitely exceed 1 billion yuan during the "golden season," which included Christmas, New Year and Chinese Lunar New Year.

    "A wide range of comedies, action films and epics for the New Year season are also carrying forward Chinese traditional culture," Gao said.

    Wu Hehu, vice director of the Shanghai United Circuit, said consumers were in the mood to spend at the end of a year, and "it has become a habit to go to cinemas for New Year films."

    The film market hasn't been affected by the global financial and economic crisis, so far at least. Take Guangdong, for example, the province most hit by the crisis.

    Box office receipts in most cinemas were up 30 percent year-on-year, and the province's total box office this year was the largest in China at 600 million yuan.

    But Zhao Jun, general manager of the Guangdong Provincial Film Co., warned the crisis might have lagged effects on the industry and Chinese films would face great challenges next year.

    ESCAPE FROM REALITY

    Wang Xiaofeng, a film critic and a main writer for the popular Sanlian Lifeweek magazine, said amid the financial crisis, fearfuland depressed consumers would seek comfort in culture.

    Beijing's largest cinema, the Capital Cinema, was packed on NewYear's Eve and stayed open until 1 a.m. Young couples, parents with children and even a family of three generations told a reporter they had come to celebrate the New Year and have fun.

    Guo Renlin, 76, took his wife, her daughter and her granddaughter to see the 11 p.m. show of "If You Are The One." Guoonly goes to cinemas once in a year.

    The New Year film season, according to the cinema's vice manager Yu Chao, started with "Luck in Love" on Nov. 20 and reached a climax during the run of "Forever Enthralled." Domestic films were getting better in terms of quality and marketing in the past two years, Yu said.

    Guo Weiling, another cinema-goer who came to see "Forever Enthralled," said she preferred imports.

    "Domestic films are often low-quality and disappointing. But we don't have many choices for the New Year, so all I can do is pick a film that is 'not so bad' from many low-quality domestic films."

    Some previous years' New Year films were criticized by audiences, but most films this year had good word-of-mouth, Gao Jun said. "Chinese film companies have been practicing marketing and commercialized operations in the past five or six years."

    But critics said many people just enjoyed going to cinemas, even though they had few choices except domestic films.

    "The box office success of domestic New Year films was achieved under protection and without competition. In the long run, it's not a good thing for the domestic film industry. Domestic films and marketing are still far from satisfactory. Chinese audiences are easily fooled," Wang said.

    "Film companies usually tend to control coverage before a film is released. It may be bluffing, but audiences are still willing to go to the cinema. People are getting used to watching commercial films too much," Wang said.

    CROWDED MARKET

    Industry observers also said it wasn't too smart for so many companies to release would-be blockbusters at the same time. Although audiences had more choices, the fight for each film was harder.

    "Each film won't get the maximum benefit. Some films will have to be taken off screens as new films are coming," Wu Hehu said.

    It's up to studios to decide when to release a film, but there are two prime seasons: summer vacation and the New Year. That doesn't mean a film can't succeed at other times.

    In August, when most studios feared people would avoid films in favor of the Olympics, the low-budget "Almost Perfect" found box office success. The same happened to "Painted Skin," which was screened in October with few competitors.

    "It's feast or famine for Chinese films. This shows that the market is still not mature," Wu said. He predicted slow sales in February and March when films would be in short supply.

    Pretty much everyone agrees that Chinese films have gotten better and more commercial, and the money from New Year's blockbusters helps ensure the industry's survival. But some realities can't be ignored.

    "We have new box office records every year, but most are set bya handful of blockbusters. Big ticket sales at New Year just disguise an underlying weakness. Much more effort is needed for our film industry," Wang said.