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Spending lucky money wisely
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Han Ximin
THE Chinese New Year is a special time of year for kids. In addition to new clothes and toys, not to mention tasty candies, they get Laishi, or lucky money, from parents and relatives.
In affluent Shenzhen, it is not uncommon for kids to get as much lucky money as workers in inland cities earn in a whole year.
Qu Yiran, a manager in a silk import and export company in Shenzhen, said his son "earns" nearly 10,000 yuan in lucky money every year. In the past five years, his son has collected 40,000 yuan and given away around the same amount. He opened a bank account save the money. "He will need it in his college," the father said.
Middle school students are generally more free to spend their money than little kids. Wang Tie of Pingshan Middle School said he planned to spend the money on travelling during the holidays. This decision was backed by his parents. In the first five days of the Lunar New Year, Li Lei of Shenzhen Foreign Languages School spent her time in Shenzhen Book City, reading and buying books. With the money at her disposal, she bought a pile of books as New Year's presents for herself and her friends. Many of her classmates did likewise.
Proof of this can be found in sales figures from SZ Book City, where 300,000 yuan was collected on the first day of the holiday and 470,000 on the third day of the lunar new year, most of the customers being young students.
Parents interviewed by Shenzhen Daily offered different views on lucky money. "Too much lucky money will spoil kids," a mother said, "They may think earning money is easy and spend it carelessly."
"Many middle school students spend their money at parties or eating out, some even collect money for future get-togethers, a very unhealthy tendency," said Qu. He added that children should be taught to spend their lucky money wisely.
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