As the Tibetan capital recovers from the March 14 unrest, many stores of famous foreign brands are also gradually restoring their operations, although the sales revenues are much less than before.
American home products company Amway moved its Lhasa store from the suburbs to the downtown Degyi Middle Road, 500 meters away from the Potala Palace, to boost its popularity.
Around 150 consumers poured into its 300-square-meter store on Thursday morning, buying products, entering lucky draws or getting service, making the store lively and crowded.
The rent of the new store is more than 400,000 yuan (57,143 U.S. dollars) annually and the decoration cost Amway more than 1 million yuan.
"After the riot, we shortened our operating hours. But we're confident of our development in Tibet," said Li Yanqing, an Amway official.
Amway is not the only company to have reopened its doors for business.
The store of Danish menswear brand Jack & Jones was burned in the riot. It reopened on March 25 with brand new decorations in the downtown Beijing Middle Road. Currently, its sales revenue was around 2,000 yuan a day. The number was over 8,000 yuan at the same time last year.
"It's much better than I have expected in such a short period of time," said shop manager Yu Dan. "It can be anticipated that consumers' enthusiasm will erupt soon after days of restraint."