Sweet burdens of gift ideas

Ma Xizhe, a senior manager at Century Love, a matchmaking website in China, said many people worry too much about gift giving, adding there's no reason that presents must be expensive.

"I have seen some men who've said they are annoyed with the idea of giving gifts," she said. "I think they are just complaining and they are still happy about their relationships. Young people like sending different kinds of gifts. But as they grow up, most of them become practical and gifts become less important in their lives."

She said everyone, both men and women, enjoys receiving a present.

"What people want to do for a holiday is to demonstrate their good intentions," she said. "So the price of a gift and the gift ideas you think of are not very important. The important thing is to think about who will be with you and about living a peaceful life."

She said men's common complaints can actually be interpreted as giving evidence of the affection they hold for their partners.

"After all, they are thinking about gifts," she added.

Feminine touch

Like men, women have many occasions for giving gifts.

Cui Shaoyu, 24, for example, has been busy in recent weeks trying to get a present ready for her boyfriend.

The employee of a Beijing web company said she buys things for her boyfriend almost every holiday and doesn't care if he reciprocates.

Cui said he loves photography and often looks at micro blogs written about cameras. She has watched him go through posts and made notes about what seemed to interest him, as well as spent time talking to his friends to learn more about his preferences.