CRI听力:Double Seventh Festival Booms Businesses in China

China's Valentine's Day, the Double Seventh Festival is the most romantic festival among China's traditional celebrations. The festival was the day valued most by girls in the past and remains a favorite today, managing to evolve along traditional lines.

On this day, girls once used to pray to the Weaver Maid goddess, asking for great skills in needlecraft as well as satisfactory husbands. But for many Chinese young people, these old traditions have been forgotten over the years.

This year, on the streets of big cities, many stores selling cross-stitch artworks have found more young lovers taking up this traditional habit. Manager Wang Kai runs such a store in Shanghai.

"The embroidery artworks sell really well in my store, and most of the customers are young lovers this year."

But the Weaver God goddess in heaven doesn't answer the young girls' prayers unless they are able to show their sincerity, often demonstrated with offerings of delicious food. The food which is usually offered at this time is home-made and propitious in nature, just like dumplings, noodles, wontons and deep-fried twisted dough sticks. However, the most famous offering is the Qiaoguo, a kind of cake with a thin fried paste inside. Daoxiangcun, a renowned Chinese traditional bakery chain has introduced the traditional Qiaoguo for years into the Chinese market. A manager surnamed Liu from a chain store based in Shijingshan District of Beijing says more and more customers are recognizing the traditional food compared with years previously.

"Qiaoguo has sold very well in the store this year since we've changed it slightly, adding new flavors like blueberry and lychee. Several years ago, only a small amount of young people were interested in buying Qiaoguo, but now more young people and elderly customers have started to purchase it because of soft and delicious flavors. These kinds of cake can be priced much higher than other more common ones, but the price doesn't deter the customers from buying them".

Gold jewelry has also seen sales increase as it helps to express sentimental wishes, and acts as a good hedge against inflation. Many jewelry stores have promoted their Qixi sales by offering more products suitable for lovers. Manager Li Mei says certain products prove very popular for this occasion.

"Jewelry with traditional Chinese designs is very popular among those customers looking to buy necklaces, bracelets, and eternity rings. Gold jewelry suitable for wearing with traditional Chinese clothing, such as the cheong-sams, is proving extremely popular right now".

This year has also seen traditional bamboo slips become a new favorite among young lovers. Couples can use the bamboo books to express their heart-felt love to one another, engraving words upon the book to give a special message to their loved ones. The price of these traditional romance letters has garnered great attention from customers visiting online stores. The bamboo slips are usually priced at 48 yuan up to 150 yuan each.

For CRI, I'm Liu Min.