In a major historic moment, Kanye West performed in the southern Chinese city of Haikou, sparking a boom in the local economy. His latest concert came nearly two decades after he first graced the stage in Beijing and Shanghai in 2008.
As part of his Vulture listening party, Ye's performance in the Chinese city drew crowds of fans.
According to the Global Times, about 40,000 fans attended the concert, most of them from Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang and Beijing.
To take care of them, city officials made all the necessary preparations. To attract customers, hotels, malls and restaurants offered huge discounts to take advantage of the rapper's presence.
Rough estimates say the concert could generate $52.6 million for the city from tourism as the number of hotel reservations in the city reached more than 83% on the first day of the celebration, the report said.
In addition, Kanye has a special relationship with the country, having lived there for a year while his mother Donda taught at Nanjing University as an English professor.
Earlier, Ye further expressed his love for China, telling Forbes:
"I love China. It changed my life. It changed my perspective, it gave me such a broad perspective.”
(BalkanWeb)
