higher price was considered justified.
In May 1989 Libo, as Reeb is pro
nounced in Shanghai, was officially
launched. Reeb is not only the English
word for beer spelt backwards, but the
Chinese word 'Libo' also means
'powerful wave'.
In problems
In the summer of 1989 it became
clear that the conditions to realise the
plans had changed unfavourably. The
June 4th incident was one of the rea
sons to enforce the already existing
austerity policy. Government projects
were slowed down and entertainment
tightly controlled. Temporary season
al workers were sent back to the
countryside from where they came.
This reduced the number of beer
drinkers. On top of that the two mil
lion tourists who visit Shanghai each
year also stayed away and reduced the
beer market further.
Shanghai rapidly got into econo
mic problems and, logically, opposi
tion to the high price of Reeb grew
strongly. Besides, the brewery ex
perienced big problems with the
bottles, causing quality complaints.
Preference
Meanwhile it became apparent
that the consumers' limited spending
power meant that they showed a pre
ference for a cheap beer. The brewery
responded to this by launching a beer
also launched for the winter months
when pilsener consumption is ex
ceptionally low.
In that difficult year of 1989 also
the technical state of the brewery
became a major concern. Scarcely
two years after the official opening
many of the brewery's installations
were already in need of large-scale
renovation because of poor design
and manufacturing of the locally
produced machinery and equipment
and insufficient maintenance.
The most essential equipment for
the beer brewing process was over
hauled and after some time the quali-
