Lovers can be boxed up for special delivery

A couple participates in a game held to celebrate the Qixi Festival in Rizhao, Shandong province, on Tuesday. The festival, also known as Chinese Valentine's Day, falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. Chen Weifeng / for China Daily

Some young lovers like the idea, too. Xu Ruodi, 22, from Hubei province, said she hopes her boyfriend of four years "packs himself as a gift for me".

Xu, whose boyfriend is in Chengdu, Sichuan province, added, "What's more, it won't cost him much money."

Her only concern was that courier company boxes are not known for their beauty.

"A box containing someone's lover would be more attractive if it was decorated with colorful wrapping paper and lovely bows," she said.

But the idea doesn't stir everyone's imagination.

Yu Xiawen, 25, of Zhejiang province, who was married in June, said she doesn't buy the packing idea because it's too dramatic, like something from a TV serial.

"I'd say that if 100 people have already paid for the service, it's no longer something special or personalized.

"I'd be content if, for example, my husband bakes a cake for me. Real romance lies in daily life, not surprises," she said.

But Yu said she could understand those who paid for the service.

"If my husband and I were separated in different cities and couldn't see each other often, I might appreciate the idea, too."

Liu said 80 percent of the customers are students or white-collar workers ages 22 to 35.

"We've designed the service to meet the demand of young people and fashionistas," he said. "Flowers, chocolates and jewelry are gifts anyone could think of. Young people want something new and personalized, something that they can't see or buy in their daily lives."

Liu said his team also introduced other ways for people to express their love for each other, such as ordering fresh flowers ahead of time from Yunnan province, the biggest flower-growing center in China and Asia.

"By now, more than 500,000 flowers have been ordered by people across the country," Liu said.

An online survey showed the most popular gift people want for Qixi Festival is spending the special day with their lover.

The survey of 1,074 netizens aged 18 to 45 was conducted by Horizon Key, a consulting company in China.

Eighteen percent of respondents said the gift they wanted most for the festival was to be with their loved ones - followed by "dinner cooked by my lover" ranking second, and "a trip with my lover" third most popular.

Yan Ran contributed to this story.

zhaoxinying@chinadaily.com.cn