When Tang Xiaosong came back to Beijing after spending the two-week Spring Festival holiday in his hometown, he felt relieved. It was the first time that the 26-year-old had visited his hometown Yichang, a city in Central China's Hubei Province, after he found himself a job in Beijing last year.
Never having being away from his hometown for such a long period of time, he had been quite anxious for the arrival of the Spring Festival. He planned to spend more time with his parents. Having worked hard over the past six months, he also felt the need to stay away from the chores of an office and relax. But unfortunately it did not turn out as he had expected.
According to Chinese custom, the Spring Festival holiday is the time to visit relatives and to extend New Year greetings, and as Tang has plenty of aunts and uncles, much of his time was spent visiting them.
Upon each visit, he gave his young cousins "yasuiqian," money given to children as a new year gift according to Chinese custom.
Tang said the Spring Festival made him tired instead of relaxed and happy like he had expected.
"I did not feel like I was on holiday," Tang complained.
Tang's experience is quite common. According to a survey conducted by the Beijing Datasea Marketing Research Company, Tang's view is shared by many people in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. As many as 47 percent of interviewees in Beijing, 32 percent in Shanghai and 37 percent in Guangzhou, agree that " Spring Festival can be hard work." And 14 percent of Beijing residents, 9 percent of people in Shanghai, and 15 percent of Guangzhou residents even said that Spring Festival is "annoying."
The survey conducted in early February questioned 1,232 urban residents. As the results indicate, although it is still the most important festival on the Chinese calender, Spring Festival has lost its special attraction for many people.
The survey asked interviewees to describe their feelings about the festival. On a scale of 1 to 10, residents from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou respectively gave the Spring Festival 6.8, 6.8 and 6.1.
A total of 25 per cent of young people below the age of 20 admitted visiting relatives is the biggest headache. To avoid such trouble, many choose to spend the holiday in other places.
"Last year I went home for the Spring Festival holiday. It was a tiring experience, so this year I stayed in Beijing with my girlfriend," said Jia Bing, who comes from Chongqing Municipality in Southwest China and works in Beijing.
But staying in Beijing is not a pleasant experience, either. "It was no different during the festival, just an ordinary weekend," Jia said. "The streets were quieter than my hometown. There was little to remind me that it was Spring Festival."
Jia thinks that Spring Festival needs to be given more cultural connotation. Last Christmas, many department stores and restaurants were decorated with Christmas trees and Santas, which helped create the festival atmosphere.
"So I put red lanterns, New Year scrolls and other Chinese decorations in my home," Jia said.
(China Daily February 28, 2002)
