Photo from China Daily

The streets of Beijing may be increasingly deserted as the capital buckles down for the Spring Festival, but you wouldn’t know it from the air. This past week’s smoggy skies has caused a run on air purifiers, according to this article in the China Daily: “According to Gome Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd, China’s second-biggest electronics retailer by revenue, the sales of its air purifiers in Beijing since June grew by 80 percent compared to the first half of the year, and it marked a 60 percent year-on-year increase.”

Photo from Asiaone.com

In the meantime people have been scurrying around (or more accurately inching their way through traffic) town bearing expensive gift boxes for their friends, family and associates, but for many migrant workers the tradition of giving out hongbao (red envelopes stuffed with money) to relatives over Chunjie is increasingly becoming an economic burden in the wake of mounting inflation in the big city. According to Asiaone.com, “The amount of hongbao alone has risen from a few yuan in the 1970s to thousands of yuan in recent years … Hongbao can also be a huge burden for the elderly, especially those who have several grandchildren …”

However money doesn’t seem to be an issue for Chinese art collectors – many are now paying extravagant amounts for antiques and contemporary works that go beyond even the value of works by masters like Picasso and Warhol, says the Wall Street Journal. “Three of the 10 most expensive art works sold at auction last year were by Chinese artists, according to art-market analyst Artprice. Last year’s priciest painting: “Eagle Standing on Pine Tree” (1946) by self-taught painter Qi Baishi. This delicate scroll rocketed ahead of colorful canvases by Pablo Picasso, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol when it sold for $65 million at auction house China Guardian in May. Overall, purchases by Chinese collectors accounted for roughly a fifth of Christie’s global sales during the first half of last year; Sotheby’s says mainland buyers also lifted its sales in Asia to nearly $960 million last year, up 47% from 2010.”