It's party time!(3)

"You have to make decisions as early as possible, so that we can make reservations as early as possible. Otherwise, there will be no tables at all," says Zhou Wenxiao, marketing specialist with Shanghai Dinning Secretary (SDS), the city's most popular dining reservation hotline.

Restaurant and hotel bookings skyrocket from November to late December, as many companies attach great importance to their annual parties, Zhou says. SDS' business is roaring as it offers meal and hotel room discounts, Zhou says.

SDS offers dinner choices from 100 yuan to more than 1,000 yuan per person, Zhou says.

The mid- to high-level options are the most popular, and turnover has increased by 30 to 40 percent compared to last year, he says. He explains it's difficult to make reservations at some hotels during the period.

Pudong Shangri-La, Shanghai, this year increased the annual party banquet price by 10 percent per person, but reservations for banquets of 600 to 700 people increased remarkably.

"Another good year means another thumping annual party," Philips, Shanghai project manager Garfield Tao says.

"The annual party is an indicator of the company's status quo, and thus is the most effective way to enhance employees' confidence and commitment. And when it comes to China, eating a big meal is vital."

His company booked 70 tables in a grand Shanghai hotel for its annual party.

Last year, in Zhejiang province, Ningbo Yofoto Commodity Co rewarded its best employees with 26 Mercedes-Benz cars and 14 BMWs, each worth an average of 400,000 yuan, at a year-end party.

An official with Yofoto's planning department, who declined to give her name, says her company has "maintained the scale" of its annual party this year but she wouldn't reveal details. Employee rewards are an internal affair that shouldn't be publicized, she says.