Society

Many stay away from home ahead of festival

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-02-02 13:38

BEIJING - While throngs of Chinese workers struggled on their way home for the coming Spring Festival, many young white-collar workers are brainstorming to find good excuses for not returning home.

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Unlike their tradition-minded peers who gravitate to the yearly family reunion at the start of the Lunar New Year, the increasingly pragmatic Chinese young now try to shun the costly festivities, tiring customs, and family burdens behind this season of excess.

Home is still where their heart is, but perhaps not during the Spring Festival, which falls Thursday.

The rich celebrate, the poor calculate

For Li Hui, a young graduate and clerk in Beijing, the New Year benediction comes at a cost.

"2,000 yuan for family gifts, 1,000 for pocket money to relatives' children, and miscellaneous spending on the journey and other activities,"  Li carefully calculated, only to reach the frustrating conclusion that her festival stay in Harbin would cost an equivalent of two months salary.

"I have to overdraw my credit card for that,"  Li said with a grimace.

Earning a monthly income of 2,000 yuan, Li falls under the category of  "moonlight clan," or those who have no savings at the end of a month.

"Living costs in Beijing are sky-high. I managed to save little, even after skimping on every penny,"  said Li.

But Li could not scrimp on the "lucky money" for the children in the family, a festive obligation of the Lunar New Year, as that would be a matter of "losing face."

"I was often tempted by the other option -- to stay away from home and save a great deal," said Li. "But my parents haven't seen me for a year, how can I break their hearts like that?"

NEW YEAR GIFT FOR PARENTS, HOW ABOUT A BOYFRIEND?

Song Yunjia feared her holiday at home would end up in a crowd of strange young men.

An art designer aged 25, Song is quite happy with her single life in Shanghai, but her parents are not.

"They probed me with the question of boyfriend and marriage every time I went home for the Spring Festival," said Song.

Further, blind dates arranged by her parents have soured the one-week holiday into a campaign season, with different candidates introduced to her. And it always upset her parents if Song voted differently than what they wanted.

Many Chinese parents have a paradoxical attitude towards their children's love stories. They thumb down "immature love", or romance before college, for fear of distraction from study, but would frantically interfere if their child stays single upon graduating from college.

But Internet-savvy youngsters strike back with strategies. Single men and women now post online for "festival girl or boyfriend," who can act to fool the other's parents and will have an exchange visit to the other's parents in return.

But Song said she would simply choose not to go home this Spring Festival.

"I'll wire the saved expenditure to my parents instead," said Song.  "Anyway, a stressful holiday is not my wish."