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  • Lunar New Year, it's one of Asia's most important festivals.

  • Think of it as the Asian Thanksgiving and Christmas all in one.

  • You probably also know it as Chinese New Year,

  • but it's not just China that celebrates it.

  • Many Asian countries like Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia

  • celebrate the Lunar New Year as a national holiday.

  • And with that many people celebrating,

  • you can bet their wallets are getting a great workout.

  • Lunar New Year is about hanging out with your family, but it's also all about the food.

  • Chinese New Year snacks don't come cheap.

  • A box of pineapple tarts easily costs about U.S. $15,

  • while shrimp rolls can cost about $13.

  • The most expensive and popular Chinese New Year snack though

  • is likely to be this sweet pork jerky, also known as bak kwa.

  • Bak kwa prices start from about $38 a kilogram.

  • Food prices go up before Lunar New Year all over Asia,

  • and contribute to hefty spending over the season.

  • In Singapore, the average expected expenditure

  • per person is $1,890 for the festive season.

  • About one-fifth of that goes to food.

  • In Indonesia and Malaysia, the intended spend per person last year was $800,

  • while the average Malaysian respondent expects to spend about $1,000.

  • For a bit of context, Americans said they planned to spend an average

  • of about $900 on Christmas presents last December.

  • In all three Southeast Asian countries, consumers expect to spend money

  • mostly on food, travel and red packets.

  • Wait, what's a red packet?

  • Called hongbao in Chinese, they're one of Chinese New Year's best-known traditions.

  • Red packets are gifts of money given by married people to unmarried people.

  • So if you have a large family. you have to give money

  • to all your younger and unmarried relatives.

  • In Singapore, the going rate is between $6 and $10.

  • So you may get asked by relatives when you're getting married,

  • but think of it this way,

  • you're getting paid!

  • In China, many people are starting to give digital red packets

  • through the Chinese mobile social platform, WeChat.

  • WeChat only introduced electronic red packets in 2014,

  • but the growth has been phenomenal.

  • At midnight on Chinese New Year Eve,

  • WeChat recorded 760,000 transactions in one second.

  • WeChat rival, Alipay, reported that 250 million red packets

  • were sent on its platform on New Year's Eve,

  • with an average of $28 in each red packet.

  • The Chinese tech giants are using these digital red packets

  • to grow their mobile payment users,

  • and it's these red packets that have helped to propel WeChat Pay into dominance.

  • Jack Ma even called WeChat's red packet strategy, “A Pearl Harbor attack

  • on his platform, AliPay.

  • In China, factories and businesses shut down for the one week public holiday,

  • resulting in the biggest mass migration of people on Earth.

  • More than 414 million Chinese people will be taking planes and trains.

  • That's almost the entire population of the European Union on the move.

  • Many are migrant workers heading home, but many choose to go on vacation as well.

  • Domestic travel spending was up 15.9% last year to $61.5 billion,

  • with top destinations being Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

  • But many affluent Chinese travelers are also looking to travel abroad.

  • Outbound tourism increased 7% last year,

  • with spending amounting to $14.5 billion.

  • Top destination cities are Hong Kong, Bangkok and Tokyo,

  • with travelers expected to spend an average of nine days abroad.

  • Chinese New Year is a major spending season in China.

  • Last year, Chinese consumers spent $140 billion

  • in retail and catering services in one week.

  • While Chinese New Year had little impact outside of China a decade ago,

  • the size of the Chinese economy now means that it has a huge impact globally.

  • Stock market trading slows in many Asian countries,

  • while countries and businesses will be rolling out the red carpet

  • for the six million Chinese travelers expected this year.

  • The Chinese New Year is such a big deal, it even impacts trade.

  • Usually, China has a trade surplus with the U.S.,

  • but during Lunar New Year, China buys a lot and exports less.

  • Last year, the celebrations contributed to China posting

  • its first monthly trade deficit since 2014.

  • For the rest of us, it's time to kick back and enjoy the festive season.

  • Happy Lunar New Year!

  • Hi everyone, thanks for watching!

  • If you want to check out more CNBC Explains, click on the videos here.

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Lunar New Year, it's one of Asia's most important festivals.

Subtitles and vocabulary

B1 US chinese lunar china packet asian average

How much does Lunar New Year cost? | CNBC International

  • 138 7
    PENG posted on 2019/02/16
Video vocabulary

Keywords

context

US /ˈkɑnˌtɛkst/

UK /ˈkɒntekst/

  • noun
  • Set of facts surrounding a person or event
  • The parts of something written or spoken that immediately precede and follow a word or passage and clarify its meaning.
  • The circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed.
average

US /ˈævərɪdʒ, ˈævrɪdʒ/

UK /'ævərɪdʒ/

  • noun
  • Total of numbers divided by the number of items
  • verb
  • To add numbers then divide by the number of items
  • adjective
  • Typical or normal; usual; ordinary
impact

US /ˈɪmˌpækt/

UK /'ɪmpækt/

  • noun
  • A striking effect or result to hit with force
  • Act or force of one thing hitting something else
  • A marked effect or influence.
  • other
  • To collide forcefully with something.
  • verb
  • To hit or strike someone or something with force
  • other
  • (especially of a tooth) wedged so that it cannot erupt.
  • To have a strong effect on someone or something.
destination

US /ˌdɛstəˈneʃən/

UK /ˌdestɪˈneɪʃn/

  • noun
  • The place you are traveling to
  • The location where data is to be sent or stored.
  • The place to which someone or something is going or being sent.
  • A place regarded as worth visiting or traveling to.
  • The place to which goods are shipped.
expect

US /ɪkˈspɛkt/

UK /ɪk'spekt/

  • verb
  • To believe something is probably going to happen
  • other
  • To anticipate or believe that something will happen or someone will arrive.
  • To believe that something will happen or is likely to happen.
  • To require something from someone as a duty or obligation.
contribute

US /kənˈtrɪbjut/

UK /kən'trɪbju:t/

  • verb
  • To help to cause something to happen
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  • To donate, give (money) or help to something
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domestic

US /dəˈmɛstɪk/

UK /dəˈmestɪk/

  • noun
  • Someone paid to help with housework in your house
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  • adjective
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  • Existing or occurring inside a particular country; not foreign or international
  • British informal fight between husband and wife
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  • Relating to or made in your own country
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bet

US /bet/

UK /bet/

  • noun
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  • verb
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phenomenal

US /fɪˈnɑmənəl/

UK /fəˈnɒmɪnl/

  • adjective
  • Amazing; remarkable
  • Relating to or consisting of phenomena.
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explain

US /ɪkˈsplen/

UK /ɪk'spleɪn/

  • verb
  • To make clear or easy to understand by describing
  • other
  • To be the reason for or cause of something.
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  • other
  • To give the meaning of something

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