Takeaway Chinese, where you can take some Chinese away and experience progress day by day.
Takeaway Chinese, we will promise you a difference.
你好,欢迎收听随行汉语。 Welcome to Takeaway Chinese.
I'm Nian Honglin with Steve here in the studio.
Hello Steve.
Hello.
Hello, hello.
How's your 2006 so far?
Do you like it?
So far, so good.
Yeah, we're not that far into it, obviously, but I'm off to a good start, I think.
I've got my dietary goals, my exercise goals.
I have everything kind of planned out in front of me.
You're working towards the path that you designed last year already.
Yeah, which is the same path that I designed the year before that and then the year before that.
So we'll see how it goes.
I'm not really strict, though, about my plans when it comes to the new year.
I kind of like that.
Recently I've been learning about the art or the beauty of making a New Year's resolution without making one.
The idea is that you should stick to the long-term plan instead of focusing on just one year.
So if you are on the same track last year and the year before that, it must be because you're on the right track, that your entire identity, your life, your family and your work is in line with the right path.
I guess so.
I just never really think too much about what that path is.
Some people, I mean, there's advantages and disadvantages to both, right?
Making plans.
Even though those plans will often change, I think there's advantages to making those plans.
It keeps your life somewhat structured and it keeps you on a path, so to speak.
But I've always been and this goes back to when I was young, just kind of, you know see what happens and keep trying your best.
And I figure this is my theory.
If you keep working hard and you always try to do your best, then good things will happen to you.
Oh, I agree with that.
And speaking about working hard, we believe that we work hard so that we play hard, so that we enjoy life.
And that is why I am particularly fond of this period of the year.
We've just finished spending the happy, happy, happy new year period, the 新年.
Xin Nian.
Which is literally New Year, Xin Nian period.
Oh, by the way, in Chinese, we call it Yuan Dan.
Yuan Dan.
Yuan has the meaning also of the beginning of something, the starting point of something.
And Dan is like a newborn.
So Yuan Dan is like the new year is just born.
A little bit like that.
Yeah, that's kind of where we are right now.
And I guess it's an interesting time in China because...
Yeah okay, so the December 31st to January 1st, New Year just happened, but the biggest holiday is mere weeks away, or mere days away, however you want to count it.
That's why I particularly enjoy this period of the time.
We just celebrated the New Year, 欢度元旦, and then we're preparing for the Spring Festival, 春节, here in China, which means we've either already did some purchase that we enjoyed or are still preparing for the coming real New Year in Chinese culture, the real Chinese New Year Spring Festival.
Yeah, exactly.
So this is a time, I guess, of preparation, where people are preparing, buying all the things they need to help to prepare themselves for the holiday.
I think so.
We call it 假日 or 节日经济。 假日经济。 假日经济, 假日 would be holiday, and 节日 would be festival, 节日。 节日。 Yes, 节日经济, so 经济 we know is economy, and when it's this period of time, It's not only confined to New Year's or the spring festival.
Actually it happens to a lot of different festivals, a lot of different holidays here in the country.
That is, when it's holiday period of time.
You either buy stuff as a gift to yourself, to your spouse, to your loved ones because there are usually some kind of promotional benefits, discounts out there in e-commerce platforms or in different shops and different shopping malls, or that it's the time that you want to, you know, do something special for yourself.
So there's that factor.
And another thing is because it's holiday time, you get to travel around.
And when you travel, you spend.
And when you travel, when you plan for your traveling experience, you spend.
So 节日经济 is definitely a thing.
Yeah, and it's definitely the time of year and that spending comes within a number of different markets, I think, because there would be a lot of money spent on food obviously, a lot of money perhaps spent on accommodations, tickets like train tickets or airplane tickets.
So lots of different ways people are spending their money these days.
And it's a good time of year for a boost to the economy.
Definitely.
And talking about the past year, the 2025 period, we see a lot of trends in the spending world in the consumption area.
We see that, for example, even when we're talking about the 节日 or 假日经济, we talk about the kind of stuff that are bought by people during this period of time.
One Very interesting and I really like this trend is that people started to buy things for themselves, to please themselves.
One keyword in 2025 is even love yourself.
We say 爱你老几.
爱你老几.
Yes, so 爱你 is love you.
And 老 is kind of a way to soften things up.
For example, if you have a brother, especially a little brother, you call them 老弟.
I think in my generation, when I was a teenager, I would say 老爸, like daddy.
Yeah, so 老, the character itself means old, but putting 老 in front of an address of a relative or a friend or anything, it's kind of like you know, show that you're very close.
Yeah, so it doesn't necessarily mean they're old.
No no no, because 老弟 is your younger brother so, and 己 is 自己 self.
So they're saying 老己 like myself, so I should be loving myself, I should be pleasing myself.
We also call it 越己经济, that is, to please yourself kind of economy, and they buy things in the purpose of entertainment, in the purpose of even healing, like liao yu.
Liao yu.
Liao yu means healing.
So there are a lot of different types of liao yu equipment that you can decorate your home with.
Yeah, like an ASMR kind of tool that can generate the sounds and music that are very, very soothing, like candles.
Like, for example, also the kind of massage related tools.
Some have something to do with the essence oil, some is a lamp, so that it can create a healing environment.
A lot of things that we use to please ourselves.
Self-care self-love yeah um, do you buy yourself a birthday present?
Or do you buy yourself a spring festival gift or anything like that?
I think i love myself too much, oh Too many gifts, and I don't do it only on special occasions.
I do it whenever I want it.
That's really healthy, I think.
And really expensive.
Yeah.
But the reason I asked is because I like the idea of that.
Whatever major holiday it is that comes up in your culture during that time, spending a little money on yourself.
When you're consciously making that decision, I'm doing this for me.
Yes.
On your birthday, I love the idea of buying yourself a birthday gift.
It doesn't have to be anything extravagant.
But again, it's that buying something to treat you.
And I think psychologically, that's quite a powerful thing to do if you're conscious of it.
Because... you're aware that you are working hard, you are doing your best, and you deserve a treat.
So to give yourself one, I think, is a really kind of nice idea.
And it's under that theme of self-love or self-care.
Yes.
And another thing that is related to the festival economy, or holiday economy, is traveling.
So nowadays when we travel, we don't just go to the places, spend hours on transportation and then arrive and take a picture and instantly leave for the next destination.
It's no longer the trend.
It has been the trend, I think, 20 or 30 years ago.
Yeah, I've heard a lot of stories about how people will go to...
And it's like one day, one day, one day, one day, one day.
And they do it just so that they can get all those stamps in their passports and they can say yeah, I've been to that country.
Yeah, I've been to that country.
Yeah.
But then the trend started to change where, instead of doing you know a handful of countries in Europe over a week's time, then you do maybe one country or maybe two countries.
So that you really get an experience of what it's like to be there.
I remember watching the kind of advertisement saying that spend 10 days and travel 10 countries.
Yeah.
I mean to be fair.
If you're going to do that, that's the exact part of the world to do that, because it's just so easy to get around and to see all of those different places.
That's also true.
But still, nowadays people are more into experience.
That is why we talk about 文旅融合 a lot.
文旅 融合 融合 So 融合 is integration.
融 carries the meaning of mixing, and 合 is combining together.
So not only are they slowly mixing, they're becoming one entity.
And 文 is 文化.
So it's talking about the cultural and the tourism together, integrated together.
It shows that instead of the arrive, take a picture leave, kind of mode, the people are more into experience.
They want an immersive experience.
That's cat.
Different cats in different places.
They do not understand you.
Or, you know, chicken or different animals surrounding the B&B area.
I think I know what you're trying to say.
Spend as much quality time in the area where you are as possible.
I like this idea, as opposed to simply get in and get out as quickly as possible, because there's just so much more to learn.
You don't know.
When you do it the other way, when you just go and take picture and then leave, then you don't know whether you like it or not, right?
And you don't have to like every place that you travel to.
The odds are you won't love every place that you travel to.
But at least give yourself the opportunity to find out whether you do or not.
Yes.
Besides, we see even with the souvenirs, the magnets, 冰箱贴.
冰箱贴.
When we say magnets here in China, 冰箱 is the refrigerator and 铁 is to post it.
Put on.
Put on.
So 冰箱, or to stick.
So 冰箱, 铁 is the fridge magnet.
And you can even find some spots providing you with a customized magnet so you can insert your own pictures that you took right on the spot.
And it also definitely would have some local characteristics, either with the intangible cultural heritage element or the iconic spot, local architecture as a model, something along that line.
And it combines the place. with your own experience and make it unique enough.
I was wondering, you know, why they became so popular.
Was it just kind of like an online thing everybody was doing?
And I was looking at them.
The designs of these magnets are really, really nice.
Yes.
Yeah, they're very artistic and they're very well made.
And I think that's why they became such a hit, because yeah sure, you see everybody else doing it online and posting about it.
But these are really pretty, very, very nice magnets, too.
Yes, and when we talk about the magnets that are designed for you, that are unique, we also mentioned the customized, which is 定制.
定制 is another trend.
It's not only in the world of souvenirs.
It's happening everywhere.
A lot of goods out there in the market, online or offline, are are able to cater to your own needs.
There are so many different ways to 定制.
You can either choose from different functions and combine them together.
So you only use the kind of functions or you only pay for the functions that you need.
Like what?
Like for different, for example, computers.
I don't know if it happened to you, but when I purchased a computer when I was a kid or a teenager or in my 20s, buying a computer was much bigger a deal, which was why I would do that in holiday time, kind of like a present.
And at that time we already had the trend of finding the right computer or finding the right parts so that an expert can help you put the computer together.
So, instead of buying a computer that is designed for the mainstream consumers, you can get one only for you.
If you want to play games or if you are a major in architecture, you need the computer to excel in certain aspects.
You can 定制 your very own computer.
I guess it would apply to travel too, because you could 定住 your itinerary, your travel plans, for wherever you're going.
Yeah, for the coming spring festival, which would be night, day, long.
It's a really long holiday.
For Chinese people a lot, choose to go to different places in the country, explore the culture there, the beautiful natural landscape and also the cuisine and the people.
And it's the place.
And it is the occasion to have a lot of 定制化 fun.
Yeah, exactly.
Customized fun.
I like that expression.
Over the course of the past several years, we see the holiday days, or the festival period, becoming the peak, definitely the peak period for family trips.
Because yes, we have our annual leaves and kids would have summer holidays and winter holidays, and some would even have snow and ice holidays.
Envy those.
And spring and autumn breaks.
Well, those are not a lot of days, but still like three to five days so they can combine the weekend with the workday so they can have a longer holiday.
But spring festival is still the longest holiday you get besides your annual leave.
And if you use it wisely, you can take the entire family to different places, have some family fun.
And that has been the trend here in China as well.
Yeah, there's a bunch of different holidays in the country during the course of the year.
And from what I've learned is that spring festival is kind of the mandatory family time.
Yes.
And the other holidays are kind of like yeah okay, you have a little bit more flexibility or freedom in terms of what you do.
You can, of course, go and see your family, but it's not the same level of obligation, right?
Very shrewd observation.
Yeah.
Yeah, this is, you don't have a choice.
You go spend time with the family whether you want to or not, which is a wonderful thing.
Yeah, it is a wonderful thing.
And we've already mentioned when people, families travel around, they want the experience.
Oh, you can also call it 体验经济, by the way.
体验经济 Yes, 体验 is experience, and 经济 we know is economy.
So 体验经济 is experience. the one that we talked about, it has something to do with 文律融合.
It can also be related to, for example, 体育经济.
体育经济.
体育 is sports.
So sports-related activities, sports related activities as well.
As you go to a place for the sport event, it can be the grassroots kind of.
We talked about the village super league, the village championship.
So that's the grassroots level one, but there's also the world-class one.
You can go watch a championship held in one city.
So it can be a trigger to be in that city and then start traveling in that city.
Yeah, that's where all these different types of spending economies are somehow connected.
Yes.
Not somehow.
They're very much connected because the travel economy you spend on your train or plane tickets to get somewhere.
And then, when you arrive, you're contributing to the hotel industry and the food industry, and then you're contributing to whatever Industry is where you spend your money through your activities sports or non-sports, whatever it is.
But yeah, one just leads to the other, which leads to the other, which leads to the other.
Yes.
And another thing that we didn't mention, but definitely related to this entire network of economy would be 冰雪经济.
冰雪经济.
冰 is ice, 雪 is snow.
Ice and snow economy.
Yes.
Yeah, it is the time of year when people get out their skis and their snowboards and their ice fishing rods.
I've never gone ice fishing before.
Me neither.
I have no interest whatsoever.
Why?
Because my friend does this.
My university roommate does this every winter.
He's from a northern part in Canada.
And he loves it because he says it's super chill.
It's kind of his time to relax.
I said, isn't it boring?
And he said, that's the point.
Soothing and calming and doing nothing.
If there's no activity on the fishing line, that is totally okay.
Yeah, but some people are into that.
It's definitely a fun time of year if you are a person who loves fishing.
The snow and ice.
And in the past year we've seen more and more people being able to enjoy ice and snow related activities more.
Because with the expansion, this is why I think economy is very magical and fun.
That is something that was used to, that used to be considered as a luxurious item you go for.
It sounds like something that only those people with a very rich background would be able to do have a ski time or a family time going to ski resorts.
But now because the expanding of the market, because we started to offer students in the area where the snow resource is abundant.
There's snow and ice holidays.
And because we encourage more and more places, no matter where, if they're in the northern part of the country or the southern, relatively warmer part of the country to build ice rinks all around.
We see the expanding of the industry.
And that leads to the lowering of price in different items.
And more people are able to enjoy ice and snow activities.
And they go to these resorts.
They spend their, for example, upcoming spring festival period of time in ski resorts.
And that leads to an even more thriving industry.
So it's the kind of nice positive loop i like to see.
And i have friends who have little kids and they'll go to a ski resort and not even ski because the kids aren't ready yet, oh.
So oftentimes ski resorts will just have little kind of little hills for the kids where they can slide down in a sled or something like that.
Yeah, but they really enjoy.
I mean some, someday the kids will learn how to ski or snowboard, but they're just not there yet.
But they still really enjoy the experience of going because you get out there in that fresh mountain air, in the snow, and they've got the canteens with nice hot food at lunchtime.
And it's just kind of a cool atmosphere to be in with your family.
And, to be honest, during winter days you lack the motivation to go out to enjoy the not very warm sunshine feeling.
If you're in the city, for sure.
But it's quite important for people to have a relationship, have a connection with nature.
It's healthier, it's better.
And that is why in a lot of places, yes, they're encouraging people to enjoy snow and ice activity.
They're also holding different types of Light Festival or Lantern Festival right after the Spring Festival period of time.
The Lantern Festival would also be celebrated.
And one reason for that, for a more extravagant design with the lanterns, and also, for example, in Harbin or other parts of the Northeast region, Three provinces here in China they held the kind of festivals with a lot of ice sculpture and lit up with the different light.
And that is also for people to have a reason to go out to connect with nature, even when nature is being harsh and cold.
Yeah, because it's still nature.
Yeah.
And if you're dressed.
Maybe it's because I'm Canadian, but we're kind of taught from an early age that you can enjoy any type of weather as long as you're dressed appropriately.
If you have the right types of shoes and gloves or mittens and scarf and hat and all the things necessary for cold temperatures in the snow, if you have all the appropriate gear, being in the snow is really, really fun.
And after enjoying your time in the snow, you go back to the warm inside and indoor area.
A cup of hot chocolate.
And also a little hot pot, too.
That's the best.
Yeah.
Is hot pot more popular in the wintertime?
Because it seems like it's an all-year-round treat to me.
It definitely is.
Yeah.
Yes.
And besides that, we talk about the kind of joy and fun these purchasing can bring to our life.
And now more people, especially the younger consumers, are chasing right after the entertainment, feeling the emotion that this goods or this item can bring.
So it's no longer about the function of it, but the sheer joy that it can bring.
Yeah, it's about what you get out of it.
Yes, and we call it 情绪消费.
Yes, so 情绪 is your emotion and 消费 is consumption.
So 情绪消费 literally is talking about, for example, blind boxes.
Yes, and also decorations and little stickers or the kind of stuff that's related to one's idol, the celebrity they like.
And those things do not really have a very high cost if you're talking about how much it costs to manufacture the item.
But it's really closely related to the feeling and the emotion.
And people are now very much willing to buy it because the joy is it can bring can last for a really long time.
And that's worth it.
Yeah.
And that's what people are looking for now, right?
Rather than just spending money for the sake of spending money, or spending money on a thing just for the sake of the thing that seems to be going away now.
And people want their purchases to mean something.
Yes.
Yes.
And that is why, during this festival period of time, you see people buying, for example, cell phone cases with special meaning, the color they like, the kind of quilts they enjoy, and we even purchase new clothes, but not like in the past.
We say oh, it's new year time, we should have a new batch of clothes to replace the old worn ones.
Yeah, just because, just because, and also people would even call it xin nian zhan pao, xin yan zhan pao.
Zhan pao is like the clothes you wear to a war, but it's not a war to fight, it's a war to impress.
You're winning the war of, you know, being great and being fashionable.
So it's like the new year fashion war yes, the new year fashion war, or the spring festival fashion war, and you shop for that and it has to has nice connotation and positive and lucky connotation.
In China, we usually, especially for young kids, would buy red clothes for them.
To you know, spend and celebrate the spring festival.
And for young ladies, they would buy certain decorations like necklace or earrings.
Those are also considered that can bring some good luck for the coming new year.
So That kind of 情绪消费, in my opinion, is also very healthy.
And, like Steve has already mentioned, all these types of economy consumption, are all related to each other.
And it reveals that We are enjoying our lives a bit more and we're learning to love ourselves, love our lives a little more.
Yeah, and when you spend your hard-earned money on things that make you feel good, then it encourages you to do that again when the next time comes.
And you don't have you ever heard of post-purchase anxiety.
If you break it down, post means after purchase, after you buy something and then not enough, and then anxiety.
So that feeling of like oh, i shouldn't have bought this oh, i don't think i need this, why did i buy this?
Like that type of feeling.
If you're spending money on on things that make you feel good and you're spending money on experiences you're, you'll probably never have post-purchase anxiety.
But if you're here in China and you're purchasing online, if you have that anxiety within the first seven days you can return it.
The return economy.
We didn't talk about that.
I don't think any shop owner would love the return economy, but it enhances the purchasing experience.
So what have you bought for the just past New Year holiday?
And what are you planning to buy?
Or where are you planning to go for the spring festival period?
Please let us know in the comment area.
Thank you so much for spending time with us for Takeaway Chinese.
I'm Niu Honglin with Steve Hallerly.
We'll see you next time.
我们下次再见。 Thanks so much.
See you again.
