(CRI)
Updated: 2007-12-06 09:47

An 8,000 yuan laptop computer sits on the desk of Xiao Ying, a student at Dongguan University of Technology, as a birthday gift received from her boyfriend. [Southern Metropolis Daily]

As Christmas is coming, what have you prepared as gifts for your beloved ones? Well, a college student in southern China's Dongguan, Guangdong province, has taken on several part-time jobs to answer that question, as he plans to give his girlfriend something really special - a platinum necklace worth 2,000 yuan!

The boy, who calls himself A Ming, is a junior at Dongguan University of Technology. He chose the expensive gift partly because his girlfriend comes from a rich family. In fact, ever since the relationship began, he has had to do part-time jobs to make ends meet.

Every month he receives 1,500 yuan in pocket money from his parents, which definitely doesn't cover his love life.

"A dinner with her can cost 70 to 80 yuan," he told the Southern Metropolis Daily, "so I have to make money by selling cell phones, sending out handbills and working as a tutor, which all together bring in about 700 to 800 yuan a month."

A Ming is not a rare example. Expensive gifts are nowadays "part of the game" for "college couples", a survey conducted by the newspaper revealed.

Among the 110 university students in the city who answered the questionnaire, 16 percent confessed that they'd given out diamond rings or necklaces to their other half, 29 percent chose costly clothing, and 4 percent preferred to give a cell phone or trip away together.

Xiao Ying, also from Dongguan University of Technology, received an 8,000 yuan laptop computer from her boyfriend last year as a birthday present.

"He bought me gifts with money given by his parents," she recalled, "at first I felt they were a bit too expensive, but, after all, they represent his love."

However, not all students enjoy the "luxury game". "Money cannot express love," said Li Xiuyan, a finance major, "especially when it's given by your parents."

Some parents seem to fully understand the situation. "Making friends is a good thing. I won't interfere if my son buys someone a gift," said a mother surnamed Luo.

On the other hand, parents like Mr. Wang deem that "Luxury on campus is always a bad thing. The kids should learn that making money is not easy!"

Parents should supervise and show their children the right way to spend money, a municipal government officer was quoted as saying.

"Diamonds are precious when they are given as a token of love, but worthless when only an expensive gift," noted a teacher from the Dongguan University of Technology.

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