ARTS / CULTURE & LEISURE
Trends
Published: Jan 04, 2023 12:59 AM
People purchase goods at a market in Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei Province on December 29, 2022. As Chinese New Year approaches, people rush to buy goods and other items to welcome the festivals. Photo: Xinhua

People purchase goods at a market in Shijiazhuang, North China's Hebei Province on December 29, 2022. As Chinese New Year approaches, people rush to buy goods and other items to welcome the festivals. Photo: Xinhua

With only more than two weeks left till the 2023 Spring Festival in mid-January, people around the country are starting to prepare the year's first biggest feast - the Chinese New Year's Eve family banquet - with a preference for "delivery" rather than cooking for themselves. The trend is especially popular among young Chinese. 
According to ele.me, one of China's most competitive food delivery platforms, up to 60 percent of customers who searched for "family banquet" were born after the year 2000.  

Chinese news magazine Vista Kantianxia

Hong Kong star Jackson Wang, who has 30.8 million fans on Sina Weibo, has readdressed his patriotic feelings toward China in an interview with TVB. In the interview, Wang mentioned that he had lost "part of the Hong Kong market" due to several factors. In 2019, he was the target of online abuse after he posted his support for the Chinese national flag on Sina Weibo following an incident in which several masked Hong Kong rioters disgraced the flag.

Wang said in the interview that he does not see this in terms of gain or lose, but rather as him putting his principles first. 

Beijing News Culture and Entertainment

The Year of the Rabbit is right around the corner. A rabbit with a blue body and red eyes on China Post's official Year of the Rabbit stamp, priced at 1.20 yuan (17 cents), has recently sparked criticism among netizens as many think it is not pleasant-looking enough. 

The rabbit design was created by renowned artist Huang Yongyu. Similar criticism was directed toward 2022's Year of the Tiger stamp. While these zodiac stamps are a matter of taste and so criticism is natural, it should not escalate to attacks on the artist. 

People want these stamps to cater to the tastes of the majority of people, but artists often use their own unique styles in these designs, which is probably why they can be controversial. Therefore, whether they are good looking is a matter of perspective.

Beijing-based newspaper Workers' Daily