"Mr. Huang? Is this what you call a decline in foot traffic? Have you really discontinued the 49 yuan models and are only selling the 199 yuan ones?"
"I demand that you implement new visitor control policies and strictly limit the crowds to below 300,000 people!" Standing on the upper level of the Bird's Nest, looking at the dense crowd queuing outside, the official spoke with a rigid expression.
Today was January 5th, 2015. According to Mr. Huang's previous promises, at this time, the foot traffic should have at least remained level, not increased, even if it didn't show a significant decrease.
However, according to the current statistics, the foot traffic for today had already exceeded 330,000 people, which surpassed the Bird's Nest's maximum daily capacity. As a result, a large number of people were waiting outside, unable to enter.
The official had also received reports of three violent altercations already occurring, indicating that the mood of the crowd outside was extremely unstable.
"Well, I suppose they figured since I spent thousands of yuan on travel expenses to come to the capital again, there's no reason to give up seeing a once-in-a-lifetime performance for just 199 yuan!" Mr. Huang said, rubbing his nose.
He was in a rather good mood. In just five days, the 199 yuan Pangu Paradise had sold over 1.5 million boxes, generating over 300 million yuan in sales.
Although the 199 yuan Pangu Paradise didn't have much profit, with about 100 yuan profit per box, the profit from these five days alone was enough to cover three months of the Bird's Nest's expenses.
However, Mr. Huang also felt it was time to implement some restrictions, as his inventory was running low.
1.5 million boxes represented almost half of Big Class's stock for the past six months.
This might sound unbelievable. Any blind box from Jiangnan Group could sell tens of millions, so Big Class stocking only 1.5 million boxes seemed quite insufficient.
But this was based on industry experience. Even Bandai, the industry leader, would only prepare a certain amount for their most popular products.
And Big Class's actual stock was 2.5 million boxes, with another 1 million boxes to be sold through online and other offline channels.
As a result, Mr. Huang had to divert the stock intended for online and in-store sales to the Bird's Nest venue first to meet the demand. Otherwise, they would run out of stock the next day, failing to satisfy the on-site players' needs.
However, Mr. Huang had already issued an order requiring all toy manufacturers under Jiangnan Group to act as contract manufacturers for Big Class, rushing production to release another 2 million boxes before next week.
If they could achieve a monthly output of 5 million boxes and sell them all, Pangu Paradise would undoubtedly break Bandai's record and set a new global sales record.
But that would still take another week. So, Mr. Huang readily agreed, offering no resistance and cooperating fully with the official's request. He ordered a daily limit of 100,000 boxes to be sold starting tomorrow.
Simultaneously, they would issue pre-order coupons to tourists who queued the previous day. These tourists could then purchase models in priority on the next day using these coupons, thereby controlling the sales speed of the models and the daily visitor numbers at the Bird's Nest.
They also issued an announcement stating that this measure was implemented at the request of the venue management and had nothing to do with Big Class.
Although the announcement was a clear attempt to shift blame, the outcome was very satisfactory to the Bird's Nest official. In his view, 100,000 people was a very safe number.
And he was happy to take the blame.
While the tourists would certainly resent the management due to this announcement, it didn't matter. Their thoughts were irrelevant to him. But through this announcement, the management's safety awareness could be perfectly demonstrated, showing his efforts in safety, which was the most important thing.
For the next two days, everything proceeded smoothly. However, on the third day, the official received a call from his superiors, demanding that he immediately withdraw the restrictions on Jiangnan Group or adjust the daily limit of 100,000 people to 300,000.
"Leader, didn't you tell me before that having so many people at the Bird's Nest every day was too dangerous? Why has the policy changed so suddenly!" the official asked in shock.
This was because his leader almost every month emphasized safety issues, using recent safety incidents as warnings in every regular meeting, demanding "safety first." Yet today, he was issuing such an unsafe directive.
"Ahem, primarily, many embassies have lodged protests with us, stating that their citizens have been treated unfairly here, unable to purchase the models they want or attend the performances they wish to see, which has created a very bad impression!"
"Furthermore, this is also an opportunity to showcase our country. And this is the first time our country has experienced a tourism surge of foreign visitors. The momentum is very good and cannot be interrupted. Do you understand what I'm saying?" The leader hung up after speaking, unsure if the official understood.
So, the official remained somewhat confused. He then summoned representatives from Big Class again. Upon inquiry, he learned that more than one-third of the recent visitors to the Bird's Nest were foreigners, all of whom had specifically flown from abroad to see Pangu Paradise.
As a result, almost all foreigners were now being denied entry to the Bird's Nest due to the current policies. It was reported that over 200,000 foreigners were staying in the capital, naturally causing great pressure.
"Why have you rejected all foreigners!" the official asked, his eyes wide open.
"Ahem, it's mainly because there are too many people wanting to buy the models, which has led to a large number of scalpers queuing up to get pre-order coupons. Considering this, we required everyone to make purchases with real-name identification, with one ID only allowing the purchase of one item. And foreigners, not having ID cards, naturally couldn't buy the models!" a representative from Big Class explained with a wry smile.
"Then you should cancel the ID card restriction, or perhaps allow passports for reservations!" the official said.
"Yes, yes, yes!" the Big Class staff members nodded repeatedly.
"How about this? I think it would be best to only allow passport reservations. This way, we can satisfy the needs of foreigners while also reducing the visitor flow at the Bird's Nest!" the official proposed a brilliant suggestion.
The Big Class staff members looked at the official in shock, then timidly asked, "Aren't you afraid of being dug up by angry netizens, including your ancestors' graves?" Only then did they abandon this extremely ingenious idea.
Finally, after careful consideration by Mr. Huang, the purchase restriction policy that had been in effect for several days was rescinded. This was mainly because Mr. Huang himself directly oversaw the matter, and Jiangnan Group successfully achieved the miracle of a daily output of 300,000 boxes, which was sufficient to meet the Bird's Nest's demand.
However, this relaxation only lasted for two days before a new policy was added, limiting each person to purchasing only one box.
This was due to on-site reports that the foreign friends were purchasing with extreme fervor, often buying twenty to thirty boxes of models at once. After all, in the eyes of foreigners, the price of 199 yuan RMB was less than 30 US dollars, which was incredibly cheap. They could buy them to give to friends who couldn't visit China, or simply to become foreign resellers themselves.
By mid-January, the scene outside the Bird's Nest had completely transformed. Half of the people queuing outside were Chinese, and the other half were foreigners of all complexions.
According to statistics from relevant departments, over 200,000 foreign tourists entered China every day, with the vast majority coming specifically for the Bird's Nest. The tourism department was considering awarding Big Class and Jiangnan Group an annual tourism award to thank Jiangnan Group for its significant contributions to China's tourism industry.
After all, it was normal for each foreign tourist to spend 200 US dollars per day in China, so it was normal for 200,000 tourists to spend 40 million US dollars a day. This directly boosted the annual GDP of many regions in China. Shouldn't the tourism department award Mr. Huang a major prize?
As a result, by February, in the last month of the exhibition, the Bird's Nest official's attitude changed from wishing Big Class would leave immediately to actively communicating with Jiangnan Group, hoping to permanently house Pangu Paradise at the Bird's Nest and make the mecha performance a permanent attraction. This way, he would likely be able to boast impressive achievements and rise in his career within a few years.
If not for an accidental incident that occurred on February 3rd!