How gift givers are pushing the envelope
There is a knock at the door and another family of smiling visitors arrive. They step across and hand over big bags of fruit, cakes or candy. After exchanging greetings or sharing dinner together, you show them out and just before they leave, the visitors may bring out a red paper envelope. "This is for your kid," they say.
You politely reply: "Come on. You don't need to. Save it to yourself, please!" The mandatory insistence and refusal goes back and forth two or three times. "No, you keep it", "No you keep it". Finally, you accept the envelope, which usually contains cash.
That is a typical scene for ordinary Chinese people during the Spring Festival.
Locals in Fujian Province are busy buying candy for the festival. Wu Chong |
Hongbao, the red paper envelope filled with cash, has always been the most popular and conventional gift for children during the special holidays and this year, more adults also prefer to receive cash than other traditional New Year gifts.
A recent online survey 4,280 people shows more than 52 percent expect to receive cash or shopping coupons during the Spring Festival.
"Most of the visitors will bring fruits or candy, which are however always too much to consume. Sometimes, they turn out to be a burden and we have to gift some of them to others to get rid of them," said Zhang Na, a company employee based in East China's Zhejiang Province.
"But with cash or shopping coupons, we can buy what we need. That makes a better gift."
Fruits, cakes and candy used to be considered luxurious gifts because people back then could hardly afford them. But due to the improvement of living standards, they can no longer go along with the changed culture.
Beijing Entertainment Messenger and Sina.com jointly conducted the survey last month. Following cash, free travel and gym membership were among the most desired gifts, with 31 percent and 30 percent of votes, respectively.
Gold, silver or jade jewelries or souvenirs are also high up the list of wished gifts.
According to the survey, up to 82 percent of interviewees said they prepared to send gifts to their parents during the festival, which once again proves the importance of parental respect and filial piety in Chinese culture.
Lovers and bosses share the second and third largest groups to whom Chinese will give gifts, and these groups ranked slightly higher than friends and relatives.
Gift giving was still a major way for people to maintain contacts, the survey report authors concluded.
Although China witnesses a rapid growth of its economy and the people are enjoying a better life, the Chinese are still reluctant to squander on New Year gifts.
According to the survey, most said they would spend 100 to 500 yuan ($12.9-64.5) in a single gift. Only 6 percent of the participants agreed to buy a gift worth more than 5,000 yuan ($645).
(China Daily 02/16/2007 page19)
