The high cost of joining the holiday fray

According to the plan determined by our family council, we spent the Spring Festival with my wife's parents in Chongqing municipality. In light of the blizzard and enormous volume of travelers, we felt as if we'd won the lottery when a friend of a friend got us tickets.

After a two-hour flight from Beijing and a one-hour bus ride, we arrived at the doorstep of my in-law's home three days before the festival began.

I was ready for a rest, but my father-in-law announced we'd been invited to be the guest of a relative.

Realizing it would be very impolite to refuse an invitation during the year's most important festival, I had to give in and brought along a gift. But this was only the first of a head-spinning series of visits.

At lunch the next day, my wife's younger sister invited us to her new home. The village where she lives is a rural development pilot project in which brick buildings mushroom up throughout the vast fields.

But my sister-in-law bought a four-room apartment in town. As the eldest of three daughters, my wife had to contribute the fattest red envelope at her sister's banquet.

On the third day, we visited my father-in-law's brothers. Following local tradition, we dined with our aunts-in-law later. By the time we had to leave, we still had to visit a dozen relatives.

Eating homemade food, downing fragrant local liquor and learning the local dialect was interesting. But drinking soon became a difficult to endure routine, as locals believe the amount of liquor that a guest drinks is directly linked with his respect for the host.

The festival soon became a prolonged fight around different tables. The local liquor costs just over 10 yuan ($1.40) a bottle. But it's rather strong, and I had to finish at least half a bottle at each meal to earn enough "face".

Our daughter was the only one of us who really enjoyed the trip. She got up early every morning, asking eagerly how many family members we were going to visit. In addition to meeting pals her age, she also received surprising gifts.

The only meal we had at home was on New Year's Eve. My parents-in-law spared me the liquor swilling, and we happily settled in front of the TV, chatting and watching the gala show. That was the only night I remained sober, but it also resulted in the heaviest financial loss for me.

My better half, who is also the domestic minister of finance, usually seals the red envelopes by herself. That night, however, she gave me empty envelopes and fell fast asleep. I had to resort to my wallet to prepare gifts for my parents-in-law and the children. She must have had this in mind when she asked me not to drink that night.

Ten days later, we boarded the plane. My wife whispered with a smile that her relatives all sang my praises. I was very flattered.

The festival was a really great chance to upgrade my public image.

However, there was one problem: We had barely enough money left for the taxi ride home. We had spent 30,000 yuan ($4,200), our savings of a whole year, on transportation, gifts and red envelopes.

(China Daily 02/28/2008 page20)