Let's have more 'Days' for joy, economic growth

Reports on love-filled, business-boosting celebrations of Qixi, the Chinese Valentine's Day, last Tuesday, gladdened my heart.

Not because pictures of octogenarian Chinese couples celebrating Qixi in their decades-old wedding finery gave me - I'm a single and, yes, happy guy - fresh impetus to stay optimistic, but because as a business journalist, I could discern the enormous impact such days would have on economic activity.

Qixi-related sales of online and offline businesses surged. Flowers, chocolates, cakes, wines, jewelry, travel packages, apparel, fashion, food and beverages at restaurants, cinema tickets, greeting cards, smartphone gifts, decoration materials for use in malls, relationship advisory services, wedding proposal planning services ... all sold like hot cakes.