Perhaps equally important ，given current ticket prices，it is simply notpossible for many Chinese families to afford an evening at the movies when an importedAmerican film is showing.The cost of a ticket to see "Saving Private Ryan"in Beijing，to take one example ，ranged from 30to 60yuan.Such a family outing can easilycost more than ten percent of a family's monthly income.Given the alternative ofpirated video compact disks （VCDs）costing no more than eight yuan -albeit ofadmittedly far inferior quality -many families simply watched the film at home.This problem has affected attendance for Chinese films as well.Surveys have shownthat the major reason for the decline in film attendance may well stem from theeconomics of the market.When four VCDs can easily be purchased on the street forten yuan，one can watch between five and twenty films at home for the same amountit costs to see one movie in a theater，and afterwards one can exchange the diskswith other people.Indeed ，by the summer of 2000the situation had become evenmore serious for American films.Not only were many films not available theatrically-such as "American Beauty"-easily available on VCD ，but the most popular Americanfilms distributed theatrically in China had all become easily available on DVD aswell，with far better quality than the VCDs.Even older films unavailable on DVDin the United States -such as the "Godfather"and "Star Wars"series -can be purchasedin this format in China.
This issue is likely to remain contentious for the foreseeable future.Indeed，after the Emei Film Corporation in Sichuan Province announced on November 3，2000that it was lowering ticket prices to 5yuan for both domestic and imported filmsin the fifteen cinemas it controlled in Chengdu -beginning with the American blockbuster"The Perfect Storm"（Wanmei fengbao）-long lines began to form outside thesetheaters.While theaters in Shanghai and Beijing generally found this strategy foolhardy，many supporters thought it contained the seeds of the solution to China's post-WTOproblems.The debate continues to rage and has been widely reported in the Chinesepress.（39）
Other key issues that prevent Hollywood from realizing its China dreams werenot addressed in the agreement.For example ，the revenue sharing agreement allowsthe foreign studios ，after payment of taxes ，fees and duties，only about 13percent of the box office.Thus ，even a massive hit like "Titanic"that took inaround $44million at the box office，generated well below $10million for 20thCentury Fox.Nor has China Film been willing to abandon its monopoly over distribution，although a leading official at the China Film Corporation conceded in an interviewthat it will be difficult to maintain the monopoly indefinitely and that Hollywoodmight be able to forge an agreement in another five years that would allow for moredirect distribution of their films.（40）In addition，a variety of administrativeregulations ，including blackout dates for foreign films during key holiday periodssuch as Chinese New Year，continue to hinder films such as "Mulan，"which wasnot released in China until after students had returned to schools and viewers whowere most enthusiastic had already seen it on pirated video compact disks.Censorship，not surprisingly，is also non-negotiable.Indeed ，even in pre-1949China ，when90percent of the films shown were of American origin ，government censors notinfrequently banned American movies considered "offensive"to Chinese culture.（41）