Wang, a resident of Changchun, the capital of north China's Jilin Province, did give his parents a surprise by sending them a special calendar, with their family photos on it.
As a new year's present, old photos of his parents were printedon the calendar, with each month marked at the bottom by vivid pictures like hearts, candles and cakes.
"Those mark the birthdays of each family member, the anniversary of my parents' marriage and all the public holidays." explained Wang.
In many big cities of China, personalized calendars are taking the place of traditional ones, as they can be used not only for celebrating the new year, but also as a decorative and commemorative part of people's daily life.
Traditional calendars are losing popularity in China. As the new year of 2003 approaches, only three bookstores sell calendars in the book wholesale center of Changchun.
"Only a few expensive and hardcover calendars sell well," said a salesman, who has cut half of the stock this winter.
Another salesman also complained about the poor sales amount-- 100 pieces in 20 days, whose record high had reached 10,000 in a single day several years ago.
"Those common calendars were the apple of people's eyes in the 1980s," recalled a salesperson in the Changchun Branch of Xinhua Bookstore. "The counters were surrounded by so many people that sometimes they were crowded over."
However, the bookstores do not sell calendars any more, he said. Why are the traditional calendars out of favor with people nowadays?
"Today we can look up the dates in computers, mobile phones and clocks instead of calendars," said Li Hua, a local resident. "And the big calendars hanging on the walls do not fit our refined houses."
Li Yunpeng, professor of Jilin University, gave another reason. People had lived in a poor cultural environment before the 1980s, so it was the calendars that helped give them a sense of culture by carrying the photos of world sceneries and classic paintings.
However, having much more sources today, people's consumption has been upgraded. The traditional and common calendars cannot cater to their aesthetic tastes any more, instead people turn to favor personalized ones, Li said.
Many people went to computer-programming firms in recent years, where they could get the calendars with personalized designs.
"People usually want special calendars as new year presents or personal souvenirs," said Wang Chengren, who works at Sanhe Photocopy Company in Changchun, "so they favor calendars which are full of human kindness as well as aesthetic values."
(People?s Daily December 30, 2002)
