Chinese New Year Spending Spree

Chinese New Year is just one week away and people in China are busy preparing for the festive season…shopping for tiger decorations, gifts and celebratory meals to welcome the Year of the Tiger.

Bright red decorations, booming music and every manner of tiger regalia fill Beijing's streets ahead of China's New Year holiday.

People in China generally wear red to ensure good luck during their own animal year, but the vendor at one stall said most Beijing residents wear red regardless of which animal year it is, just to make sure luck comes their way.

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Shopper Guo Jing says a New Year bonus from her company has eased her spending worries.

[Guo Jing, Shopper]: (Mandarin, female)
"The end of the year is approaching and companies will double wages, so there is more money around and I will buy some presents for my parents and my family members. This will bring them happiness and good luck."

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While migrants prepare to return home, Beijing locals have already started stocking up at markets.

Food takes its share of the New Year bill, with companies and individuals celebrating the season with a variety of meals and delicacies.

Beijing's fruit stalls bristle with boxes of fruit baskets filled with imported exotic fruits, which tend to be pricier than local fruits.

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[Zhang Luying, Beijing Resident]: (Mandarin, female)
"Adults and children all have to appear new, with new clothes, from inside to out. At the moment our household has money, I don't think about money. It's about eating, dressing well and having fun."

Also important on the New Year shopping list is a ticket home.

Crowds of travelers are already packing Beijing's central train station, hoping to buy a seat or even just standing space on a train.

This year, an estimated 200 million travelers will surge onto trains, buses and planes for the crushed journey back home, to spend the New Year Festival with their families.