Today is Christmas Day.  As most are most likely aware, today marks the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ, messiah to the Christian religion.  But over the years, particularly over the last hundred years or so in many parts of the world, Christmas has changed and evolved.  Once a strictly religious affair, stories and legends – such as Santa Claus – developed over the years that created a new element to the holiday.  And another part of the holiday, beyond the religion and legends, became the retail element of Christmas.  It's this last part of Christmas which seems to have truly captured the greatest amount of interest here in modern China.  And in today's modern age, shopping for Christmas is rapidly becoming a digital experience, as witnessed by the latest trends coming out of online shopping sites here in China.  A couple of e-commerce websites here in China are reporting that sales in the lead up to today were anywhere from 2 to 5 times what they were from last year.  This, despite the average price of online goods being up 20 percent from last year.  So what is the Chinese fascination with the Christmas holiday when it comes to shopping? 

Ni hao, you're listening to  People In the Know, your window into the world around you, online at crienglish.com here on China Radio International.  On this Christmas Day edition of the show we’ll be talking about holiday shopping trends.  So let's get started.

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First let's hear from an expert in one of the prime shopping locations in China.  Dr. Yuen Wai-Kee is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Economics and Finance at Hong Kong Shue Yan University.

(Dialogue with Yuen)

And after a short break, we'll talk to a marketing expert here on the mainland.

(Promo)

Ni hao, and 圣诞节快乐, you're listening to  People In the Know, your window into the world around you, online at crienglish.com here on China Radio International.  I'm Paul James in Beijing.  On this Christmas Day edition of the show we're talking about holiday retail trends here in China.  For more on this we're joined on the line now by Mr. Ben Cavender, Senior Analyst for the China Market Research Group based out of Shanghai.

(Dialogue with Cavender)

And with that we close out this edition of  People In the Know, online at crienglish.com here on China Radio International.  While Christmas today maintains a very commercial element, it should not be forgotten that the main idea of this holiday is friends and family.  Questions or comments for us can be sent to people@cri.com.cn.  You can also listen to our show on your mobile by logging onto m.cri.cn.  For Producers Chen Mo, Xu Yang and Lu Yuan and Interns Han Tingyu and Cui Chaoqun, I'm Paul James in Beijing.  圣诞节快乐！