Models, Dogs, and Lobster: The Breeze Center in Taipei Welcomes Valentine's Day and the Lunar New Year

A Valentine's Day promotion at the Qsquare shopping mall in Taipei left me wondering if the Lunar New Year, another potential holiday for a promotion, falling close to Valentine's Day this year influenced the decision to start the promotion nearly a month before February 14. Yesterday I saw that the Breeze Center, a luxury shopping mall in Taipei, had also began a Valentine's Day promotion on January 18. But it marked the start of their Lunar New Year promotions as well.

A series of banners with "Happy Chinese New Year & Valentine's Day" were easy to spot

Although the holidays are mentioned together, the text size on the banners highlights the Lunar New Year holiday more. And at one entrance, while the Lunar New Year theme was clear, including that it will be Year of the Dog, there was nothing specifically indicating Valentine's Day.

On Breeze's website for all of its shopping centers in Taipei portions of four images are currently featured, one appearing at a time and all with holiday promotions. One, like the banners at the mall, mentions both holidays.

Another only mentions Valentine's Day.

And another only mentions the Lunar New Year.

All of the previous banners include female models. One other, which only mentions the Lunar New Year, does not. It has a cooked lobster instead.

The promotions are a sign of how Breeze is handling the proximity of the holidays. Perhaps they will convince some people there is nothing like new shoes for celebrating Valentine's Day and lobster for the starting of the Year of the Dog — all purchased at Breeze, of course.

Getting a Head Start on Showing Love: A Valentine's Month Sale at Qsquare in Taipei

Yesterday, January 18, I didn't expect to be thinking about Valentine's Day, which isn't until February 14. However, sale signs at the Qsquare shopping mall in Taipei changed that.

The mall's website now prominently features its Valentine's Day themed winter sale as well.

I don't know whether it is typical for Qsquare to start a Valentine's Day promotion nearly four weeks before the holiday. Qsquare may have chosen the timing because another holiday with sales potential — the Lunar New Year — falls on February 16 this year. However, I have seen similarly early starts to holiday sales elsewhere. So I wouldn't be shocked if Valentine's Day signs would now be up even if the Lunar New Year fell on a later date.

In any case, the Chinese message on the banner indicates the sale will be an opportunity for couples to show evidence of their love. It doesn't mention that depending on your significant other it may or may not be beneficial to mention you bought their gift on sale.

Holiday Patriotism and Mooncakes in Zhongshan

Today at the Dasin Metro-Mall (大信新都汇) in Zhongshan there were patriotic signs of the ongoing National Day holiday.

Today is also the Mid-Autumn Festival. Like elsewhere in Zhongshan, the conjunction of holidays apparently inspired some "Buy One Get One Free" sales at the mall. Perhaps because of the overlap, I noticed just one sign which only mentioned today's holiday.

Mooncakes are a popular feature of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Unlike last year, this year I have no sightings of Hello Kitty mooncakes or mooncakes for dogs & cats to share. I saw both of those in Macau, so maybe a short trip would have fixed that.

Instead, for some mooncake spirit here is a photo of an advertisement for mooncakes from Starbucks at Lihe Plaza in Zhongshan:

A single Starbucks mooncake costs 59 yuan (which at the moment equals U.S. $8.88 — how lucky). A barista pointed out it came in a fancy box which looks like a lantern. It isn't hard to find even pricier mooncakes for sale in China.

Or you could go somewhere like Walmart and buy tiny mooncakes for about 2 yuan (about U.S. 30 cents) each. The ones with black sesame filling and salted egg yolk aren't bad.

National Day Sales in China: Buy One Get One Free at War Ground

As usual, National Day in China means . . . sales.

This year is a bit different in that the Mid-Autumn Festival happens to fall during the seven day National Day holiday period, which has been extended to eight days this year to accommodate both holidays. Some stores have played off the double holiday theme this year with variations of "Buy One Get One Free" sales.

For example, a New Bailun LP (Xinbailunlingpao) store I passed today in Zhongshan displayed a "Buy One Get One Free" sign.

And so did a YG-Niubailun store nearby.

Both of these stores sell sneakers with logos remarkably similar to New Balance's — fascinating story there for another day.

Now I can't mention holiday sales in Zhongshan without bringing up War Ground - a military-themed clothing store. Two years ago, I noticed that a War Ground store in Zhongshan had a sale for International Women's Day. Later in the year, I saw that they also had a sale for National Day. Today I briefly stopped by the same store. The promotion there was toned down in comparison to two years ago, and I didn't see any explicit mention of the National Day holiday. But there was a red colored "Buy One Get One Free" sign.

You can decide whether this counts as a National Day sale or not. Perhaps they decided they could have a sale but it would be best not to mention the holiday directly. War and all that.

A Selfie Dress for Sale in Zhuhai

One recent post referenced a sign at the Zhuhai Port Plaza underground shopping mall. A more recent post referenced a new mobile phone from Xiaomi marketed as being great for selfies. While looking for something else, I realized I had a photo of something which brings these two topics together: a  dress on sale for 35 yuan (about US $5.30) at the Zhuhai Port Plaza.

Among other possibilities, the "Selfie" dress would be fitting for somebody interested in taking a meta-selfie.

Mistaking All at a Shopping Mall in Foshan

For a brief amount of time on a recent day, I thought the two shopping centers in Zhuhai with signs stating "All you can get here" and "All is here" had been upstaged by a mall in Foshan — a city bordering Guangzhou and not far away from Zhuhai. But then I looked at another sign and realized I was not now at the All Shopping Mall. Instead, both of the Ls in "All" were actually the number one.

I am tempted to argue the A11 Shopping Mall should have a used a font in their logo which makes a clear distinction between the two characters. But I would like to hear their logic for this design. Perhaps the similarity is intentional, though that isn't necessarily a good justification.

In any case, their online presence does clearly make use of two number ones in their name. So yet again, sometimes all is not as it appears.

Parts and All of All at Two Shopping Centers in Zhuhai

The Zhuhai Port Plaza underground shopping mall has a sign with a claim.

Given the context, the phrase "all you can get here" encompasses the items shown below. Indeed, all of them, such as food, shopping, beauty salons, and transportation, are available. In fact, more can be found there. And two years ago I even saw some Baltimore Ravens boxer shorts on sale for 25 RMB (about U.S. $3.90 then).

Suffice it to say, a lot of stuff can be found at the Port Plaza, which sits just in front of the Gongbei Port immigration checkpoint at the border with Macau.

But the more upscale shopping area at the Midtown complex, about three kilometers away and also in the Gongbei subdistrict of Zhuhai, makes a much stronger claim.

In this case, the "all" doesn't appear to be limited to the items below. That only leaves all of all.

Competition is fierce. And that's all.

Loved Winnie, Banned Winnie

For sale tonight at the Guohuo Road Pedestrian Street Night Market in Bengbu (perhaps some perspective)

The Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street in Guangzhou During the Qingming Festival

Many people in China remembered deceased family members during the recent Qingming Festival. Highlighting another side of how some spent the day, which for many was part of a three day holiday, a series of photos taken at the Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street in Guangzhou appears below. One of the popular destinations for tourists visiting Guangzhou, the area was much more crowded than usual for a weekday though there were few signs of the holiday itself. The photos include both people who didn't have to work during that afternoon and people who did.

One of the wider portions of the street

Carrying a coconut to drink

Standing in line for Mango Big Mac drinks and stuffed chicken wings

Standing in line for fish balls

Preparing the fish balls

Keeping things clean

Selling fruit

Driving the bus on a portion of the pedestrian street which isn't as pedestrian-friendly as others

Providing security (and stopping people from riding bikes)

Riding high

Riding low

Riding somewhere in between

A few wore face masks

Walking

Photographing

Two Electric Toys for Sale Outside in Guangzhou

At Jihongju (吉鸿居)

At Shiliupu Main Street (十六甫大街)

Beef Brisket, Burger Queen, and Goddesses: International Women's Day Promotions in China

Two years ago in Zhongshan, Guangdong, I saw a sale for International Women's Day at War Ground — a military-themed clothing retailer. Last year in Jieyang, Guangdong, I saw two Women's Day sales featuring laundry detergent and dishwashing liquid.

In an article featuring some of this year's online Women's Day sales in China, Yvette Tan shares how some in China aren't happy about the sales:

It's worth noting that organisers for March 8's "A Day Without A Woman", aimed at calling attention to the economic inequalities faced by women, has called on women to avoid shopping for the day.

Some Chinese netizens are unimpressed with the commercialism of the day.

"Queen's Day, Girls Day, Princess Day, whatever you call it, I think it's disgusting," said one user on Weibo. "You took a perfectly good celebration and made it into this."

Tan also mentions one of the more thought-provoking promotions: a collaboration in Shanghai between Burger King and Y&R Shanghai captured in a video:

Prompted by the question, ‘Can you be our Burger Queen?’, most female interviewees, despite their various differences, doubted or questioned their worthiness of such a regal title.

Having sparked huge curiosity about who would be crowned Burger Queen, female customers opening their burger boxes today face the ultimate unveil – a mirror topped with a crown and the message ‘Every one of you is our Burger Queen.’

Regardless of how one feels about Burger King, the video is worth watching for the variety of perspectives captured.

For Women's Day this year I am yet again in Guangdong province, but this time in its capital Guangzhou. And yet again, I have seen sales for the holiday, including several days ago at a grocery market specializing in imported goods.

This was the only Women's Day sale I noticed that featured beef brisket. But it was similar to a number of other sales in lasting for multiple days before or after the holiday. Another common feature of other sales I noticed in Guangzhou were discounts based on the holiday's date March 8 (3-8). For example, sometimes prices were discounted to 38% of the original price or reduced by 38 yuan (about US $5.50).

Presumably the largest number of sales occurred today. This afternoon I visited the popular Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street, which captures one side of Guangzhou's vast range of shopping experiences. No modern luxury malls line the street, but there are plenty of stores and shoppers.

Unsurprisingly, the Woman & Baby Company had a Women's Day sale.

A leather goods retailer also had a holiday promotion.

Retailers for several Chinese sportswear brands were in the holiday spirit as well, including 361 Degrees.

And Li-Ning . . .

And Anta . . .

And even New Banluce . . .

Some people may notice New Banluce's name and logo are remarkably similar to another sportswear brand. I didn't see a sale specific to the Women's Day holiday at New Barlun though.

This touches on some of the challenges faced by a far more globally recognized sportswear brand, New Balance, in China. I will save that for another day. I don't think there is a New Balance store on this pedestrian street, but there are stores elsewhere in Guangzhou.

Back to the Women's Day sales, Sino Gem didn't miss out.

The most remarkable promotion I saw today was at one of the stores of another jewelry retailer — Zhou Liu Fu Jewelry.

Instead of using the term "Women's Day", like some other retailers they went with another name, in this case "Goddess Day" (I'll take the liberty to fix the English spelling).

Just to be sure, I confirmed with one of the employees that the sale was for Women's Day.

But I haven't gotten to the part that left the biggest impression. I had the fortune to stop by during a special moment. I don't have right words to express it, so this happened along with majestic music:

And things didn't stop there, soon the well-dressed group took a short walk down the pedestrian street.

Upon returning to the store, they graciously allowed a few people to take photos with them.

I wonder if the baby on her back was excited by it all.

Anyway, I can't top that promotion today.

The commercialization of Women's Day hasn't reached the levels of Christmas in China, but it does seem to be growing. Some see the sales as a sign of women's growing economic power. Some would like to see women in China heard more in other ways.