This 8 February was the most important holiday in China: the Chinese New Year was held. This celebration continues to be another manifest about the cultural differences between East and West that should be considered to do business in China.
The lively atmosphere is not only present inside all dwellings, where follow rituals of clothing, food, cleaning, etc. but it transcends to the street, where you can see fascinating shows, fairs and dances that highlight how Chinese culture values the festivities.
Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is celebrated the first day of the first lunar month, often a month after the Gregorian calendar. It started in the Shāng dynasty (1,600 BC-1,100 BC) with the offering of the people to the gods and ancestors at the end of a year and the beginning of a new one. Each year is represented by one of the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac, being this 2016 the year of the monkey. According to the legend, the feast of the New Year comes from a monster named Nian, who on the last night of the lunar year he used to go to the village to devour people. Once it arrives in one where he found some shepherds playing with whips. He fled when he heard the sound. Nian arrived in another village and the lanterns of a house dazzled him, and he get scared and fled again. Nowadays people throw firecrackers, hang colored strips and lit lanterns to chase away this monster.
The festival extends throughout the week and celebrations will officially culminate in the 15th day of the New Year, making companies close during the celebrations and open again after the 8th day. Therefore, you must take into account 5 important things during this festival that can affect your business:
1- The manufacturing process will not be made during these dates, something very important to reorganize your orders, your dates with suppliers and logistics processes of shipments.
2- Some spaces will be taken for the festivities, and we may not use them to follow our work normally, such as the ports where goods are shipped.
3- Many workers return to their hometowns, so that some factories may have delays in production.
4- Factories produce faster before the holiday, so we may find less quality jobs if they are not controlled strictly by a qualified local partner, such as IBMHCORP.
5- Banks are closed during these days, so it is not possible to process payments, so we must look for alternative ways to make money transactions.
Contact IBMH to have more details on how we can help you with your imports in China. Our long experience will help you to solve all these problems.
