Holiday dilemma for amorous guys

Chinese women love to ask their boyfriends one question: "If your mother and I were drowning in a river, whom would you rescue first?" While that may sound nave, many romantic Chinese guys face a similar dilemma this Sunday.

Chinese Lunar New Year falls on the same day as Valentine's Day this year, forcing amorous young men to make a tough choice between mother and girlfriend - two of most significant women in their lives, on two of the most significant holidays each year.

This has also caused trouble for flower shops since business is still down days ahead of the usual rush for many florists.

With many heart-shaped decorations and hundreds of flowers blooming in her shop, Jiao Ting, a florist in the Tiantongyuan residential area of Beijing's Changping district, is trying to keep a stiff upper lip.

"Our sales have dropped at least 30 percent and less than 10 people have placed orders each day," Jiao said.

"In previous years, we offered free delivery service to customers who bought flowers worth more than 200 yuan. But now, we give free delivery and chocolate or toy bears as gifts," she said.

The major reason for slow business is that many unmarried young people have to skip celebrating Valentine's Day with their significant others for a traditional dinner with family, said a salesgirl surnamed Wang at a flower shop in SOGO Department Store in Beijing's Chongwen district.

Although her shop is located in one of the capital's fashion areas, she has received only 20 orders so far.

No matter how weak their businesses are, florists in the capital are not planning any discounts but instead plan to raise prices.

Wang said a red rose costs about 5-6 yuan now, but she will up prices to over 10 yuan on Feb 14.

According to a survey by Sina.com, one of China's biggest news portals, about 56.3 percent of respondents will go home for a family dinner on Feb 14, while 31.3 percent will celebrate Valentine's Day with their special someone.

And, 81.3 percent of respondents said they would postpone celebrations with mates. Yet some merchants are expecting a post-Valentine's boom in sales.

While, online vendors have started gearing up to make money ahead of the romantic holiday, already over 2 million holiday-related items have been sold online.

Li Siyuan, owner of Romantic Nice Flower Shop on Taobao, China's largest online commerce site, hasn't seen any decline in her sales.

Brick and mortar shops are having a hard time competing with online stores.

Li said while flower prices are stable, many delivery companies are on holiday for family gatherings during the Spring Festival, pushing up delivery costs this year.

"We are not going to raise flower prices anyway," she added. "We only provide free delivery for customers who buy at least 500 yuan's worth of flowers. Last year it was free when customers spent 300 yuan, she said.

Another online florist Liu Jing said they have received orders worth 60,000 yuan over the last two weeks, and no price increase is expected.

(China Daily 02/12/2010 page10)