National Tide 1980.

When faced with complex problems, people always prefer to simplify and generalize.

We simplify reform to the economy, then the economy to making money, and finally happiness to material wealth.

As a result, a nationwide craze for doing business arose, "money is everything" became a popular trend, and the idea that "money is not everything, but you can't do anything without it" became deeply ingrained in people's minds.

Gong Mingcheng, the current director of the Temple of Heaven Park, is a staunch believer in these arguments.

He went to great lengths to transfer from the Tourism Bureau to the Temple of Heaven, precisely because he saw the park's economic potential and was after nothing more than the promise of "tangible benefits."

After taking office, he put everything else aside and focused solely on seizing financial and personnel power, even breaking his promise to the former director.
In order to seize power and completely control the economic lifeline of the Temple of Heaven, he was willing to overturn the table and divide the family property, even going so far as to force Ning Weimin, the greatest contributor to the Temple of Heaven's poverty alleviation efforts, to leave.

But he forgot that wealth doesn't come to those who are impatient, and business management is even more vulnerable to being misled by outsiders.

Despite taking huge risks to complete the separation from Ning Weimin and Pierre Cardin, and managing to withstand the pain of resource loss and the turmoil of losing public support, Gong Mingcheng still thought making money was too simple.

He loves money but lacks the ability to manage it, and he also lacks self-awareness, always thinking that he can get things done just by making assumptions on a whim.

Moreover, he was inherently nepotistic and pleasure-seeking.

He squandered public funds without hesitation, yet he made the foolish move of "allowing officials to set fires while forbidding ordinary people to light lamps."

Those promoted are all incompetent lackeys who only know how to flatter and fawn, and all they think about all day is how to reduce employee benefits and cut bonuses.

As expected, the assets he had painstakingly acquired not only failed to realize their due value, but also rapidly depreciated under his mismanagement.

The economic income of the Temple of Heaven Park has plummeted, and the park is facing increasing difficulties.

The first area to encounter problems was the sale of tourist merchandise.

With Ning Weimin's departure, the supply of distinctive handicrafts such as glassware and silk figurines, which were previously exclusively made for the Temple of Heaven, was completely cut off.

These products were then entirely redirected to the Japanese market. Thanks to their superior quality and unique craftsmanship, and through the channels of Ning Weimin's restaurants and bookstores, they quickly gained a foothold in Japan.

The handicrafts from the Meishijie Street Factory, which originally supplied the Temple of Heaven, are now exported to Japan and also create customized gifts for Ning Weimin's gingerbread fast food. The production and sales are seamlessly integrated, and the business is thriving.

The Temple of Heaven Park, on the other hand, is in complete trouble.

Without Ning Weimin's unique supply of goods, the tourist souvenirs from the Temple of Heaven instantly lost their soul.

Those glass artifacts and silk figurines are unique and iconic products of the Temple of Heaven, carrying the folk culture of Beijing, and have always been popular items that tourists from home and abroad vie to buy.

Now that these flagship products are gone, the park's merchandise counters have suddenly become dull and lackluster.

Gong Mingcheng was eager to fill the vacancy but had no good ideas, so he could only find a random channel to import a batch of common goods.

They're nothing more than keychains, notebooks, and commemorative badges printed with images of the Temple of Heaven; the designs are crude and lack any distinctive features.

It's not even worth a second glance from local tourists, let alone foreign tourists.

Ultimately, sales of tourist souvenirs plummeted.

The once bustling sales kiosks now often fail to make a single sale in half a day.

The goods piled up in the display case, and the unsold goods tied up inventory and capital, becoming a heavy burden.

Even worse, the Temple of Heaven's unique cultural and creative ice cream—a "high-traffic item" that could have attracted a large number of tourists to visit and spend money—was completely ruined by Gong Mingcheng.

The Polar Bear brand, responsible for supplying the ice cream, had long been dissatisfied with Tiantan's frequent delays in payment, and the supply volume had been gradually decreasing. However, instead of reflecting on the payment issue, Gong Mingcheng felt that the cost of ice cream was too high and repeatedly negotiated with Polar Bear, demanding that they reduce the amount of ingredients used and cut costs.

To protect profits, polar bears had to compromise, quietly reducing the proportion of core ingredients such as cream and milk, and also cutting back on the amount of other ingredients.

In this way, the cultural and creative ice cream shaped like the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests has completely lost its original flavor.

The texture changed from delicate and smooth to rough and dry, the milky flavor became weaker and weaker, and you could even taste a distinct artificial flavor.

However, the retail price has not dropped at all and remains at its previous high level. Today, the Qinian Hall ice cream has become a veritable "ice cream assassin" in the eyes of tourists.

Many people bought the ice cream because of the Temple of Heaven's fame and its design, but after taking a bite, they frowned and exclaimed that they had been "ripped off".

Some tourists didn't do their research beforehand and only realized after buying that the product was extremely poor value for money, leaving them full of regret.

As negative reviews spread, the traffic generated by the creative ice cream gradually dwindled, and this once "star product" was turned into a burden that ruined the brand by Gong Mingcheng.

In addition to tourism products, sales of food and beverage services have also been declining.

The Tan Gong Restaurant, once a "cash cow" of the Temple of Heaven, is now also mired in operational difficulties.

To be fair, although Ning Weimin left, the chefs he brought with him were all competent.

Those chefs who stayed to keep their jobs had solid culinary skills, and as long as they operated normally, they could maintain a lucrative business for at least a period of time.

However, Gong Mingcheng's actions after taking over completely disrupted the restaurant's operations.

The people he sent to manage the restaurant were all sycophants who only knew how to flatter and had no experience in restaurant management.

Besides trying their best to please Gong Mingcheng and accompanying him to eat and drink for free at the restaurant every day, these people also secretly followed suit and indulged in lavish meals themselves.

In order to make money, they openly sought out connections to monopolize the food supply and pocketed huge kickbacks from it.

Even worse, the cost-saving incentive mechanism previously established by Ning Weimin was completely canceled, which severely dampened employee morale and led to increasingly lax management of the entire restaurant.

Following this example, the chefs began secretly taking ingredients home, and the waiters also openly stole food and drinks, thus creating a huge hole in the operating costs of Tangong Restaurant.

Even more fatally, Gong Mingcheng was completely unaware of the changes in Beijing's catering market.

In the 1990s, Beijing was no longer dominated by Shandong cuisine; the landscape of the catering industry underwent dramatic changes.

With the increasing number of people from other parts of China and foreigners, the freshness of Cantonese cuisine and the spiciness of Sichuan cuisine have quickly become popular. The refinement of Japanese and Korean cuisine and the trendiness of Hong Kong and Taiwan restaurants have also followed French cuisine and settled in Beijing, resulting in a flourishing catering market.

In this environment, if Tangong Restaurant cannot innovate and only relies on its old tricks, it will inevitably become less and less attractive.

Under Gong Mingcheng's management, the restaurant did not care about its long-standing reputation. Instead, it cut corners to reduce costs, and the service quality plummeted, becoming more and more like the old state-run restaurants of the past, which were known for their slow service and poor attitude.

Even the snack bar on the first floor of the Tan Gong Restaurant outside the North Gate of the Temple of Heaven has gradually become disliked and lost most of its customers due to the restaurant's overall price increase and the sharp decline in the quality of its snacks.

To make matters worse, when Ning Weimin left, he took almost all of his personal collection of calligraphy, paintings, mahogany furniture, and various handicrafts and decorations with him.

Without the embellishment of these precious objects, Tangong Restaurant has completely lost its original "museum restaurant" characteristics, its style has plummeted, the high-end customers who were originally attracted by the unique environment have been lost, and its competitiveness has further declined.

At the same time, competition in the banquet business is intensifying.

In recent years, four-star and five-star hotels have sprung up like mushrooms in Beijing. These hotels have advanced facilities and attentive service in their multi-functional halls, which can meet the needs of banquets of different sizes.

The banquets that were originally held at the Nan Shen Chu Banquet Department of Tangong Restaurant have gradually been diverted to hotels, which has directly led to Tangong being able to host fewer and fewer banquets, resulting in a significant reduction in the banquet department's revenue.

Beset by internal and external troubles, Tangong Restaurant's revenue has gradually become equal to that of Beihai Fangshan Restaurant, and it is on the verge of being overtaken by Fangshan again, completely losing its previous advantageous position.

The only profitable entity within the Tan Gong system is the two new stores opened in the National Grand Hotel and Shangri-La Hotel in cooperation with the Guo Group after replacing Ning Weimin.

These two shops, relying on the hotel's high-end clientele, have managed to deceive many foreigners into spending money.

The problem is that the profits from these two restaurants have to be split equally with the Guo Group, and Tiantan also has to pay high rent and management fees. Moreover, Gong Mingcheng doesn't actually have any control over the operations; he has no say whatsoever. What's even more devastating for Gong Mingcheng is that the two Tan Gong restaurants in Kyoto and Osaka, Japan, which he had previously pinned his hopes on, have been severely impacted by the collapse of the Japanese economy, resulting in a severe business downturn and huge losses this year.

All things considered, the Temple of Heaven Park's total revenue from catering services this year is actually a loss of up to two million RMB.

Gong Mingcheng's original expectation that the overseas branches would make a fortune and demonstrate his political achievements has been completely shattered.

He could only hide in his office, cursing the Guo Group and Wu Yunjie, the overseas branch manager, but he couldn't come up with any solution.

The catering business, which he once regarded as a "treasure trove," has now become the heaviest burden on his shoulders.

The collapse of tourism products and catering services is only the beginning.

If these predicaments could be partly due to a combination of natural disasters and human error, then Gong Mingcheng's shortsightedness and incompetence were laid bare during several major events held at the Temple of Heaven Park throughout the year.

It was the failure of these activities that led to a sharp decline in the number of visitors to the Temple of Heaven, which is the fatal flaw that truly eroded the foundation of the Temple of Heaven Park.

The summer book fair and the Mid-Autumn Festival lantern festival are two of the most popular annual events at the Temple of Heaven Park, and golden opportunities to attract tourists and boost consumption. However, in Gong Mingcheng's hands, they have turned into two farces.

He was obsessed with making money. During the event preparation stage, he ignored everything else and raised the booth fees and ticket prices by a large margin.

In order to cut costs, they even cut all investment in cultural and entertainment performances.

In previous years, pop music performances were the most attractive to young people at the book fair.

Storytelling, clapper talk, and storytelling with musical accompaniment cater to the preferences of middle-aged and elderly people.

The traditional opera and folk music performances at the Mid-Autumn Festival lantern festival are key to creating a romantic atmosphere.

However, all these programs that could have attracted a large audience were canceled by Gong Mingcheng, who wanted to save money, on the grounds that they were "showy but impractical".

As for basic support such as security, fire protection, and garbage collection, he completely disregarded them, not only failing to increase manpower but also cutting the relevant bonus budget.

It's like wanting a horse to run fast but not wanting it to eat grass.

As a result, once the summer book fair opened, all sorts of problems erupted.

The park was littered with trash, which was not cleaned up in a timely manner, and the air was filled with a pungent odor.

With security forces severely inadequate, thieves took advantage of the situation, and tourists' wallets and booksellers' cash were repeatedly stolen, with cries of distress echoing throughout the area.

The order was chaotic, with stalls fighting over territory and tourists frequently arguing with vendors. The once book market, filled with the fragrance of books, had become a messy vegetable market.

To make matters worse, in an effort to save money, Gong Mingcheng didn't provide any shelters or tarpaulins for any of the stalls.

The book fair was hit by torrential rain several times, leaving publishers and booksellers unprepared and forced to watch helplessly as their shelves were soaked.

Many people's stockpiled new books instantly turned into waste paper, resulting in heavy losses, complaints, and even premature evacuation.

After this experience, the publishers and booksellers who had relied on the book fair since its inception were completely disheartened and vowed never to come again.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival lantern festival, the situation became even worse.

Despite the ticket price increase, the number of tourists did not actually decrease significantly.

The people come because of the good reputation that the Temple of Heaven Park has built up over the years for its lantern festivals.

The hygiene and order in the garden were even worse than during the book fair.

Due to a severe lack of responsibility among security personnel and a shortage of manpower, a crowd and shoving incident suddenly occurred in front of a popular lantern display on the third night after the lantern festival opened.

What started as a small-scale disturbance of the crowd quickly escalated into a chain reaction due to the lack of timely guidance from staff. Panicked tourists trampled each other, ultimately resulting in a small-scale stampede, in which several tourists fell and were injured.

Although the accident did not cause serious consequences, it did alarm the higher authorities.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau dispatched personnel to investigate overnight and ultimately ordered the Temple of Heaven Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival to be immediately suspended due to "chaotic management and major safety hazards".

Compared to the stampedes, the real problem that destroyed the reputation of the Temple of Heaven Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival was a blatant scandal in the lantern selection process.

To attract visitors, the Temple of Heaven Lantern Festival holds a national lantern competition every year, drawing top lantern artists from all over the country to participate with their works, and allowing tourists to appreciate the unique characteristics of lanterns from different regions.

This year, however, Gong Mingcheng manipulated the selection results directly in order to curry favor with local lantern manufacturers.

After some shady dealings, all the winning entries were ultimately works by local lantern artists.

Many exquisitely crafted and creatively designed lanterns from other regions, no matter how popular they were, were ruthlessly eliminated.

This scandal quickly spread, completely disheartening the out-of-town lantern artists who had traveled a long way to participate in the competition.

They spent months painstakingly making lanterns, but not only did they not receive the recognition they deserved, they also incurred travel expenses and exhibition costs for nothing. Many artists complained behind their backs, telling each other, "The atmosphere here is corrupt, we will never exhibit here again."

It can be said that these two classic events, which had lasted for many years, were ruined by Gong Mingcheng himself.

It's easy to imagine that if he could make such a big mistake at the summer book fair and the Mid-Autumn Festival lantern festival, how could he possibly manage to organize the Spring Festival garden party, which is a hundred times more lively and attracts most of the people in Beijing, with his abilities?

That's right, people learn from their mistakes, and Gong Mingcheng is no exception.

Perhaps it was because the summer book fair and the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival had suffered consecutive setbacks, or perhaps he knew that the Spring Festival Garden Party that Ning Weimin had created for the Temple of Heaven had long been the first choice for Beijingers to visit temple fairs every Spring Festival, and would inevitably attract the attention of city leaders and the media, and was the most profitable flagship event of the year for the Temple of Heaven.

This time he really took it seriously and dared not slack off in the slightest. He also re-evaluated himself and decided to follow the old rules and procedures, and even reinstated the bonus system.

The standards for sanitation, fire protection, and security have indeed improved, although they have not reached the level of Ning Weimin's time, they are not far off.

The problem is that times have changed, and many things can no longer be dealt with simply by having the right attitude and taking things seriously.

First of all, times have changed, and people's expectations for temple fairs during the Spring Festival have been increasing year by year, just like their expectations for the Spring Festival Gala. If there are no unexpected surprises to meet those expectations, it is inevitable that people will be disappointed.

Secondly, the parks that have their eyes on the business opportunities of temple fairs during the Spring Festival are no longer limited to just the Temple of Heaven, the Temple of Earth, and Longtan Lake.

Nowadays, parks such as Longfusi, Yonghegong, Baiyunguan, Daguanyuan, Changdian, and Taoranting have all joined the temple fair battle, making the competition exceptionally fierce. Performers and craftsmen who set up tents and decorations have become highly sought-after commodities, and their value has skyrocketed.

Gong Mingcheng doesn't have the same ability and confidence as Ning Weimin to overpower his rivals by making precise investments and "spending money wisely."

More importantly, due to Ning Weimin's construction of the aquarium, this year's sculpture art exhibition could not be held at all.

It wasn't that Gong Mingcheng was unwilling to spend money; rather, almost all the sculpting talents from art colleges across the country were being drawn to work at the aquarium, or were busy making props for the aquarium.

After all, Ning Weimin's project involved an investment of over 100 million yuan, with 10 million yuan invested in sculptures and decorations. It was arguably the largest commercial sculpture order in the history of China, enough to "buy out" all the sculpting talents in the country.

Who would bother with a few thousand yuan in temple fair prize money?
Finally, Gong Mingcheng was a money-grubbing person with no artistic talent or humanistic sentiments. He focused entirely on the economic benefits of the Spring Festival garden party and drastically increased the booth fees without hesitation.

This directly caused the garden party to lose its former folk charm and cultural atmosphere.

The prices were ridiculously high, and there were very few unique and affordable products, making it far less popular than in previous years.

As visitor experiences deteriorated and reputation declined, the number of visitors gradually decreased, impacting previously stable ticket revenue. It seems the more they try to make money, the less money they can make.

As a result, the reputation of the Temple of Heaven Park plummeted, and its popularity dropped drastically.

The once bustling and highly-rated Temple of Heaven Park, under Gong Mingcheng's misguided "money-first" leadership, has irreversibly declined step by step. (End of Chapter)