Expensive dinners, quality reunions

Consumption upgrade nets $145 billion for the retail and catering sector during this month's Spring Festival holiday

Lobsters from the United States, cherries from Chile, and chicken from a rural county of China ... Food from different corners of the world added color, flavors and value to Qin Xin's Spring Festival Eve family reunion dinner on Feb 15.

Hailing from Anhui province, Qin, 24, works with an internet-based firm in Beijing. She spent around 800 yuan ($127) on buying fresh food online, including meats, fruits and seafood, which made up 70 percent of the total food spend for this Chinese Lunar New Year's Eve dinner. Last year, the bill was at least 20 percent lower, but she didn't mind spending more this year.