New Year's Eve dinner-Reasonable prices in high-end restaurants

New Year's Eve dinner, also called family reunion dinner or Spring Festival dinner, is themost important meal of the Spring Festival.

In contrast to "high-end" and expensive New Year's Eve dinners in previous years, mostrestaurants have lowered the price of the meal this year.

"It's convenient to have the family reunion dinner in a restaurant," says Mrs. Wu, ahousewife from Shenyang in northeastern China's Liaoning Province. "We can book adinner in the restaurant where we usually eat and it won't cost too much, about 500 to1000 yuan."

Although most restaurants have reduced the number of dishes in their dinner packages, anincreasing number of people choose to eat out in a restaurant in order to avoid the botherof cooking at home.

In Beijing, more than 80 percent of New Year's Eve dinners have been booked up inrestaurants including Emei Restaurant, Meizhou Dongpo, Donglaishun, Dasanyuan, andGuolin. Their Spring Festival food packages also sell well in these restaurants.

Many businesses are also targeting this opportunity, providing cooked or semi-finishedSpring Festival food packages for consumers to choose on their online shopping websites.

Do Spring Festival shopping-Online selections with the most affordable prices

The online shopping websites have started their endless Spring Festival promotions.Whether you are too busy to go to the supermarket, or you want to shop around andchoose the most affordable goods, the online retailers have an option for you.

"We have spent more than a thousand yuan on Spring Festival goods online, includingsnacks, milk, biscuits, wine, drinks, household cleaning supplies, and cooked foods," saysMr. Zhang from Taiyuan, capital of northern China's Shanxi Province. "There is a largevariety of goods online and they can be delivered directly to our home. It's veryconvenient."

Festive souvenirs-Horse toys are popular

Of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, the horse, or ma, is undoubtedly one of the mostpopular, not only because of its robust and energetic image, but also due to a culturalassociation that links the animal to success.

A humorous version of expressing one's best wishes has emerged online in China this year,where netizens have started posting various photos of a toy horse carrying something onits back, such as a stack of bank notes, a pair of elephants, a mini car, or a house. A visualpun on the word "mashang", meaning "immediately" or literally "on the horse", the playfulpictures mean "May you have money/ a boyfriend or girlfriend/ a car/a houseimmediately".

Along with the playful pictures online, toy horses carrying something on their back are alsopopular items with customers in the toy markets.

"I spent 400 yuan and bought a dozen 'mashang chenggong' toys. I will give them toclassmates as gifts, and hope their wishes will be immediately fulfilled," says Pan Ye, auniversity freshman from Beijing.

Buy gold-Not for investment but for tradition

With the Spring Festival approaching, the gold market has entered its sales season. Therecent decline in the gold price has offered consumers more affordable choices.

In the "ALL LOVE ALL LIFE" gold shop in Dazhongsi in Beijing, gold ornaments with ahorse connotation are especially popular among consumers.

Yu Guiying, the general manager of the gold shop, says that the traditional Chinese wish tobless others with success or fortune has stimulated the sales of such items. In addition, thesharp decline in gold prices this year has also attracted the attention of consumers.

The preference for gold derives not only from its role as a bringer of blessings, but for itsworth as an investment and a long-term holder of value.

The article is edited and translated from 马年春节　钱花在哪里, source: People's DailyOverseas Edition, author: Huan Jia, Yun Xiaoqian, Liu Shaoyang.