What's the buzz

With Spring Festival round the corner, people working or studying away from home must be preparing to return to their families to celebrate the occasion. Besides, they must also be worrying about what gifts to carry for their parents. Some of China Daily's mobile phone newsreaders tell us what they will gift their parents.

I plan to take my parents to the cinema this Spring Festival. I come from a remote village in southern Shaanxi province, and when I was a child my family had to watch films in "open-air theaters". There are no "open-air cinemas" in the country today, and my sister and I both work in cities. But our parents' love will stay with us forever. Watching a movie with them is just a token of our appreciation for their love and sacrifice.

PINGPING, Xianyang, Shaanxi province

My parents are fishermen, who live on boats most of the time, and the Chinese Lunar New Year is the only family reunion we have at home in Hunan province. What my parents expect most is my safe arrival home. Earlier, when I used to ask them what they would like to have as a gift, they always told me that they had everything and asked me not to buy anything for them. I knew they didn't want me to spend money on good clothes, so I got them to agree to wear branded down jackets that I had bought by saying they were not expensive. Besides, I always bring them tea and nougats, which they like and need most.

MERRY, Shanghai

I go back home only twice a year. When I was at the university, I could not afford expensive presents but would still buy things such as scarves or gloves for them. When I started working, I started giving them health tonics and some money, which I know they needed most. My father has to work on building sites even though he is in his 50s, and my parents spent a fortune on my brother's wedding and a new house. Money is the most concrete help they need now.

JENNY, Changsha, Hunan province

Parents' biggest wish is their children's health, happiness and safety. As Spring Festival approaches, an offspring's safe arrival home is the best gift for parents. Perhaps parents don't expect any present from their children working in faraway cities. So we should cherish every second we spend with them. We should share our joy and resolutions for the next year with them, which would make them happier and give them more satisfaction than any present bought with money.

A READER, Haikou, Hainan province

I seldom give presents to my parents. But this year, I want to give them something special because this will be the first Spring Festival for me as a father. Now I understand how hard it is to be a parent. Therefore, I want to arrange for them to visit Beijing during the Chinese Lunar New Year and realize their dream of seeing Tiananmen Square, especially because they have rarely traveled out of our hometown after I was born.

JASON, Foshan, Guangdong province

Practical things such as a soybean milk-making machine, an electronic foot-bathtub or a massage device make the best gifts for parents. We can also gift health products to parents. But the best gift for parents is their children's company and concern. Filial piety is not about giving gifts to parents but about taking good care of them.

A READER, Nantong, Jiangsu province

(China Daily 02/05/2013 page9)