Harbin City in Heilongjiang Province vetoed a much criticized "beer fountain" during the Fourth Harbin International Beer Festival that opened last weekend.

The eye-catching froth fountain, sponsored by Harbin Brewery Group, has sparked widespread criticism from the general public, particularly after its brief rehearsal earlier last week.

A local media report said the fountain would consume 90 tons of beer - which involves 1,800 tons of water, 9,000 kilograms of coal, 14,400 kilowatt-hours of electricity and 18,000 kilograms of grain that can feed a three-member family for 20 years at least.

"It's OK for businesses to put up eye-catching ads but it's definitely not OK to squander resources," said Liu Yu, a Heilongjiang University student. "We're not rich enough to squander resources like that. So many people cannot even afford a beer."

Professor You Liying with Heilongjiang University's School of Economics and Business Administration criticized the corporate behavior as "contrary to the country's goal to build a resource-efficient society."

"It will eventually ruin the business itself because such behavior will only mar its corporate image," she said.

But, in an interview on Sunday, Fu Hui, chief operation manager of Harbin Brewery Group, had a different story to tell. "We just wanted to highlight the beer culture that is deep-rooted in Harbin," he said. "When we first tried the beer fountain, we only mixed one ton of beer though the capacity of the fountain pond was 400 tons. After all, to make it smell like beer is enough."

Fu insisted his company did not intend to waste that much grain or coal. "Even the beer we mixed was residue from our workshop that had to be thrown away anyway. We know well enough to economize. Our company's success is a rags-to-riches story."

Organizers of the beer festival declined to comment. But apparently responding to pressure from the media and citizens, they decided at the last moment to replace beer with water at the fountain.

But even that could not pacify public anger. People cannot help asking: How could anyone come up with such a lavish idea when the whole country has been told repeatedly to economize?

"The beer fountain scandal is not a coincidence," said Wu Hengju, an economist with Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences. "It's just one of the many examples of extravagance."

Behind the extravagance, however, is a lack of social responsibility, said Wu.

"If we squander what we have today, we'll have nothing left tomorrow," said You Liying of Heilongjiang University.

The forthcoming Mid-Autumn Festival, which is to fall in mid-September, for example, will test how successful China is in building a resource-efficient society.

In the past decade, mooncakes - a traditional dim sum marking the festival - were put in extremely expensive boxes made of wood, silk or even gold to become presentable gifts.

(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2005)