Money, not books, tops students’ holiday wish list

While traditionally, giving a book as a gift to a young scholar is considered to be a thoughtful, even noble gesture, college students today are becoming less appreciative of this custom. Instead, more and more young people are asking for money and high-tech electronic devices far more often than books, according to a recent survey on students' expectations for presents during the upcoming Spring Festival.

The survey, jointly published by the Horizon Research Consultancy Group and the Shanghai branch of China Unicom on Monday, asked college students in Shanghai about what was on their holiday wish list as the Spring Festival approaches.

They found that among the 1,041 students that participated, 60.2 percent were hoping for a red envelope (traditionally filled with cash and given at special occasions) as a holiday gift, 52.5 percent of participants said they expected to receive a cellphone or tablet computer, and 39.2 percent were banking on a digital camera, the Shanghai Evening Post reported Tuesday.

"Electronics are more useful and suitable as gifts for college students because they allow us to get access to more information," a postgraduate surnamed Shi at Hohai University in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, told the Global Times.

Surprisingly, only 0.2 percent of all respondents said they would like to receive books as holiday presents. Of the 274 participants who come from western China, none said they would like books or local specialties.

"I have neither the time nor the energy to read books given to me as presents, and hence I don't want them as gifts," a student surnamed Zhang at East China University of Political Science and Law told the Global Times.

When asked to share their estimates of the value of their upcoming holiday gifts, including red envelopes, participants who come from western China expected to receive 1,887 yuan ($302.67), while those from eastern regions estimated 1,457 yuan and those from central China guessed 1,267 yuan. On average, these students expect 1,520 yuan.

Students from western regions go home less frequently than other students in Shanghai, and the custom of giving gifts is more important in these regions, hence they can expect to receive more, according to the survey.