Getting ready for Chinese New Year
This week finds me excited as I am heading back for a brief visit to the states over the Chinese New Year. The Chinese New Year, (Holiday week) is probably the largest holiday in China, and most if not all factories, businesses, and all locals shut down, and it is impossible to get anything done. Most also coordinate their travel to their “home town” during this period. As most employees in the south, are all from somewhere else, this also puts a tremendous strain on planes trains and automobiles, and you have tens of millions of travelers making their way home. While I would love to stay and enjoy, it seems like a good time to avoid the transit system.
There are many traditions with the upcoming Chinese holiday. They typically give a red envelope : hóng bāo, containing cash. While the red envelopes are often presented on social and family occasions such as a wedding or gathering, they can also be exchanged in work settings.
The purpose of the red packet is that the red color of the packet symbolizes good luck. While I have read that the amount of cash being offered within is not important, but is required to be of an even number as odd numbers are related to cash given during funerals ( Bai Jin).
During Chinese New Year, a hóng bāo is typically given by married to the unmarried. Any unmarried individual is eligible regardless of age. I really don't understand this, because it should be the married that need more cash for there wives-
I had my first experience with KTV(Karaoke) in China. I cannot properly describe how huge this is-business meetings, families, friends, frequently occur over KTV. Due to my inability to carry any tune whatsoever, I had avoided until this point. However, what I quickly learned is that it really doesn’t matter whether you can sing or not. In fact, I would even suggest that the worse you are, the more the locals seem to enjoy it.
The KTV business model is also somewhat different. A typical bar might have 50 separate rooms of where any number from a couple to 25-30 can gather and have drinks, food, and sing. In addition, all KTV room comes with Female “hosts” that participate in the singing and company. While most speak little English, it is amazing how well they can sing English songs. This is another area I continue to be amazed at how far behind our language skills are. Most people I am meeting speak multiple languages. A woman from the Philippines I met, spoke 7 fluently, and was carrying on 3 conversations at the same time with one gentleman from Japan, one woman also from the Philippines and me all in our respective languages. What I also found amazing was there ability to switch between languages as they were singing the same song depending on who walked in. I will be signing off for a today, as I head by to the US over the weekend.
I am looking forward to catching up with many of you next week when I return. I will resume the blog after I am back in China for a while, and probably publish next post around first week of March.
A couple of facts for you all to ponder as I sign off.
Even with family planning in place China’s population is still growing by 15-20 million people per year. At that rate, the population of the country will exceed 1.55 Billion by the year 2037, or they will grow more in the next 20 years than the entire current population of the US. Even without that growth, China is still 1.3 Billion strong, and has yet to even begin to demand the resources that will be needed to support 100 million a year that are entering the middle class. Consumption of consumer products is still relatively light by our standards, and the areas inland from the coast have yet to really take off. With that being said, China is currently home to 40% of the world’s construction cranes being used, and that figure appears to still be in infancy. How I wonder what is in store for the next century? One thing that is apparent to me is that China and Asia will play a much larger role…
There are many traditions with the upcoming Chinese holiday. They typically give a red envelope : hóng bāo, containing cash. While the red envelopes are often presented on social and family occasions such as a wedding or gathering, they can also be exchanged in work settings.
The purpose of the red packet is that the red color of the packet symbolizes good luck. While I have read that the amount of cash being offered within is not important, but is required to be of an even number as odd numbers are related to cash given during funerals ( Bai Jin).
During Chinese New Year, a hóng bāo is typically given by married to the unmarried. Any unmarried individual is eligible regardless of age. I really don't understand this, because it should be the married that need more cash for there wives-
I had my first experience with KTV(Karaoke) in China. I cannot properly describe how huge this is-business meetings, families, friends, frequently occur over KTV. Due to my inability to carry any tune whatsoever, I had avoided until this point. However, what I quickly learned is that it really doesn’t matter whether you can sing or not. In fact, I would even suggest that the worse you are, the more the locals seem to enjoy it.
The KTV business model is also somewhat different. A typical bar might have 50 separate rooms of where any number from a couple to 25-30 can gather and have drinks, food, and sing. In addition, all KTV room comes with Female “hosts” that participate in the singing and company. While most speak little English, it is amazing how well they can sing English songs. This is another area I continue to be amazed at how far behind our language skills are. Most people I am meeting speak multiple languages. A woman from the Philippines I met, spoke 7 fluently, and was carrying on 3 conversations at the same time with one gentleman from Japan, one woman also from the Philippines and me all in our respective languages. What I also found amazing was there ability to switch between languages as they were singing the same song depending on who walked in. I will be signing off for a today, as I head by to the US over the weekend.
I am looking forward to catching up with many of you next week when I return. I will resume the blog after I am back in China for a while, and probably publish next post around first week of March.
A couple of facts for you all to ponder as I sign off.
Even with family planning in place China’s population is still growing by 15-20 million people per year. At that rate, the population of the country will exceed 1.55 Billion by the year 2037, or they will grow more in the next 20 years than the entire current population of the US. Even without that growth, China is still 1.3 Billion strong, and has yet to even begin to demand the resources that will be needed to support 100 million a year that are entering the middle class. Consumption of consumer products is still relatively light by our standards, and the areas inland from the coast have yet to really take off. With that being said, China is currently home to 40% of the world’s construction cranes being used, and that figure appears to still be in infancy. How I wonder what is in store for the next century? One thing that is apparent to me is that China and Asia will play a much larger role…
posted by Curt at 10:22 PM
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