The centuries-old Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, is the most important holiday for the Chinese people, but the traditional gifts for friends and family are changing with the times.
Cards or coupons for English lessons, keep fit classes, newspaper subscriptions, beauty-parlor services and even for tree planting are presented during the celebrations these days.
Wang Xin, a software designer in the capital of Beijing, on Monday received two New Year presents. From one of her friends, she got a card for yoga training, and from her company she received six months of English classes.
"I'm very pleased with the two gifts because they are very pleasant and very useful too," Wang said.
A company based in Chongqing, southwest China, has given a marketing program worth 2,580 yuan (US$310.84) to its regional managers and distributors across China.
The company, which pays its staff well, considers New Year bonuses, or "hongbao" in Chinese, in poor taste and out of fashion. The marketing program not only shows the attention paid to talent, but also helps to improve employees' skills, according to Yan Min, a human resources manager with the company.
"The other day, I gave several friends monthly club coupons for keep-fit classes. In the past, we usually had banquets at restaurants. Now I think wishes for the good health of my friends are the best choice of holiday greetings," Fan Siling, a college student in northwest China's Qinghai province, said.
Besides training and keep fit coupons, tree-planting is a new option for presents, which has been well received at shopping malls and supermarkets over the past few days in Beijing.
Most buyers were young parents in their 30s or 40s. They would rather help their children establish awareness of ecological conservation through tree-planting than give them money on New Year's Eve in the traditional way.
The tree-planting card is a green paper card with a face value of 200 yuan (US$24.1). The holder is offered three saplings, a spade, a pail, an opportunity for planting trees near Beijing's Miyun Reservoir and a certificate for trees to be named after the holder's child.
New choices for New Year's presents may somehow indicate a sort of new consumption trend that is more healthy, according to Chen Xin, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
(Xinhua News Agency February 4, 2003)
