An ever-changing Spring Festival tradition

As she admired her tableware collection, Gao Shumei picked up one of the bowls and traced her fingers over the Chinese character fu, meaning good fortune, which was printed upon it.

"I buy new bowls and chopsticks every year for Chinese New Year. It is said that new tableware will bring bliss and longevity to the family," said the 75-year-old.

Gao lives in a remote village on the Loess Plateau in Gansu province. This year her granddaughter bought the family's new tableware online. It was chosen and ordered in minutes, but it has not always been so easy.