V-Day

[Jamie]

Just an article I ran across regarding Valentine's Day:

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/7949035.htm

[Quest]

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[Jamie]

Try this?

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/7949035.htm

[Quest]

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[niubi]

hehe. i thought i already had registered for that site when i was looking up art exhibition info in KC. oh well. let's copy, let's be pirates when it comes to news websites to which you have to register: just cut and paste the article.....come on, just do it!

[Jamie]

Well sheesh, I am able to view it without a subscription. Highly unusual!

BEIJING - Hungry for romance, and eager to spend money, urban Chinese are embracing Valentine's Day in a big way - with some Chinese twists.

The government has given Valentine's Day its stamp of approval, and restaurants, hotels and other commercial venues are capitalizing on the interest in what Chinese call "Lovers' Day."

"It doesn't matter if it's a Western holiday or a Chinese holiday. People just want to have fun," said Liu Hongquan, a flower vendor at a northeast Beijing outdoor market.

While roses and boxes of chocolates fly out of stores, some Chinese are buying gifts of tropical "kissing fish," an aquarium fish that puckers its lips. Red beans, which symbolize love and longing, also are a hit.

But Valentine's Day this year also underscores China's changing - and still ambiguous - attitudes about love and sexuality as its Communist leaders open the door to Western markets and ideas. Urban residents, especially young people, are becoming more open in their sexual attitudes. Government officials remain cautious.

Beijing authorities on Thursday canceled the internationally acclaimed women's rights play "The Vagina Monologues," a week after it was banned in Shanghai, China's most cosmopolitan city.

The play, written by Eve Ensler, celebrates women's sexuality and focuses on domestic abuse against women. It has been performed in nearly 40 countries.

Authorities said the play didn't have the proper permits and refused to give further details.

There's plenty of ambiguity in China about what public discussion of sex is acceptable. Regulators are cracking down on some artistic expressions of sexuality, but not others. Prostitution is rampant, but society frowns on public displays of affection.

Bookstores do good business in books about sex, including new works about one-night stands with such titles as "Farewell Before Daybreak" and "Half-Day Happiness."

Newspapers, Web sites and television programs offer tips on courting prospective lovers and celebrating Valentine's Day.

"No matter how commercialized it may be, Valentine's Day is increasingly popular among Chinese, as it meets their growing demand for romance," the state Xinhua News Agency said.

Red roses soar to as much as five times their normal value, and restaurants offering Valentine's Day dinners jack up prices. Gimmicks abound to get customers in the door.

Nearly all luxury hotels offer Valentine's Day packages. The Portman Ritz Carlton Hotel in Shanghai advertises a one-night stay in the presidential suite for 88,888 yuan ($10,709). Some 5,000 roses will adorn the room, the hotel said.

At Beijing's Shangri-La Hotel, couples who plop down 19,999 yuan ($2,410) will find gifts in their suites: A cake with a diamond inside.

Trying to cash in, one firm, the Leesa New Life Technology Development Co., which makes shower equipment, sought Feb. 3 to trademark the phrase "Valentine's Day." The request is still under consideration.

In Shanghai, a movie theater plans to give away 3,000 condoms to those who buy tickets Saturday. A supermarket in Tianjin plans a contest to see who can kiss the longest, a remarkable event in a country where public kissing is rare. The winner gets about $240.

At about $30 a pop, the love-stricken in Shanghai can display expressions of love on an electronic billboard along the city's most bustling pedestrian walkway.

The hype has risen to such levels that some people feel stress.

"Valentine's Day is one of the scariest of all holidays. There is just too much pressure," Teresa Cheung Siu-wai in Hong Kong told the South China Morning Post.

For tongue-tied lovers, the state-run People's Net Web site ran some pointers Friday. For women wooing men, it suggested this phrase: "I don't care if you have money. You have a bright future." A reciprocal suggestion for men: "You are so warm, even my underwear has melted."

Some provincial dwellers are puzzled by the Valentine's Day phenomenon.

When a woman near Chongqing told her husband that they would spend Valentine's Day together over a candlelit dinner at a restaurant, he grew angry, the Chongqing Economic Daily newspaper reported this week.

"How old are you? You are already an ugly married woman. These Western festivals have nothing to do with us!" the man bellowed, according to the newspaper. The woman tossed a kitchen spatula at him and broke his nose.

[confucius]

That husband near Chongqing is lucky his wife was flipping turnip cakes and not chopping radishes!

[ChouDoufu]

I was out and about beijing yesterday (single... doh) and I was amazed by how many people were out. At 10:30, the streets were full as if it was 7:30. Couples were everywhere. It was quite a site to see. Anyone else in China notice anything similar?