Taobao's sales are up 10 times this year over last year, said a marketing staff
member who declined to give his name.
Catering to young people, who make up the majority of the country's 103
million Internet users, the site offers discounts on popular gifts for parents -
such as mobile phones and Chinese medicine - and toys for young nieces and
nephews.
"It's much cheaper to shop online and I just don't have a lot of time to
spend at the mall," said Sun Peng, a 25-year-old project supervisor from a
Heilongjiang company. Sun purchased a gift through the Internet for his parents
and a mobile phone for his girlfriend's father.
With everyone in China celebrating the same holiday at the same time, the
Internet gives young people a method to carve out their own traditions to fit
their new lifestyle.
"I'm sad that a lot of the old Spring Festival traditions have gone out of
style," said Zhao. "But my generation is creating new ones. Not worse, just
different."
Editor: Cindy
