Market for Christmas trees dropping this year

The market for high-end Christmas trees is not as cheerful this year due to the economic downturn, with more consumers buying cheaper plastic trees to give their home a festive feel.

Almost all shop owners in Shanghai's Pudong Shuangji Flower Market said it has been tough going this year.

"Sales are much worse than last year, especially for the expensive trees," said shop owner Wang Linlin.

She had sold only two real fir trees.

"The economy is not too good, so many people cut spending on trees or decorations, which are not a necessity," she said.

Liu Jiuhong, another shop owner who sells Christmas trees, also said business is not as good as last year. He sold more than 80 trees this year, down from about 200 last year.

Unlike Western countries where natural evergreens are more common, real trees are not popular in Beijing.

"We have cut off our supply of real Christmas trees because of the weak demand from our company clients. They only order plastic ones," said the owner of Beijing Jingyuan Flower Company, surnamed Wang.

At the Liangmaqiao Flower Market in the embassy area in Beijing, only one of about 20 businesses sells real Christmas trees.

"Few people ask for a real tree. It's difficult to sell," said Zhang Zhengying, the only flower retailer selling real evergreens in the market.

To make them easier to be placed in plant pots, people cut off the bulk of the roots, which results in a lifespan of less than half a month. So it's hard for people to keep them as long as plastic ones, said Zhang.

She said the needles of real trees fall off easily and it's hard to keep a clean room once they are bought back home. That's another reason why people don't want a real tree.

These natural evergreens stand in rows at the courtyard in front of the market, exposed to the freezing cold in Beijing.

"My suppliers are from northeastern China. Tomorrow is Christmas, one evergreen of 1.5 meters high costs 450 yuan ($72) while the plastic one is only 100 yuan," said the shop owner on Monday.

Although plastic Christmas trees are more popular in Beijing, many retailers complained about a sluggish market this year.

In the Laitai Flower Market, also in the embassy area of Beijing, retailers set up temporary booths selling only Christmas goods. These booths run for about one month before Christmas.

"In past years, there were more than 15 of these Christmas booths. But this year it has dropped to nine," said Zhang Hongjing, a businesswoman who has a factory in the Tongzhou district, the southeastern suburb of Beijing.

"We sell four to five plastic trees at most in one day. And zero sales is common for us," said Wang Dongsheng, who also runs a booth here.

Although the market is not as busy as previous years, it is not completely desolate. More people are turning to buying less expensive, plastic Christmas trees.

Yang Zhenhua, who runs a party shop in Shanghai's Jinqiao, an expat community, said he had sold about 50 plastic Christmas trees by Christmas Eve.

He noted half of his customers are Chinese.

"It is very common for Chinese people to celebrate Christmas nowadays," Yang said. The best-seller in his shop is a plastic Christmas tree, up to 1.5 meters, priced between 100 and 200 yuan.

Many expats fly home before Christmas. But the city is still in the mood for a grand celebration.

Twinkling lights, lovely trees decorated with candy canes and snowflakes, and shining reindeer have brought festivities to almost every posh shopping mall. And more Chinese people nowadays are eager to decorate their houses for the Western festival.

"It is such a good chance for friends to gather, for sharing our stories about the past year," said Sherry Li, a 29-year accountant in a foreign investment company. Li spent two years in the US for her postgraduate degree.

Frantz Lallenent, from France, also bought a plastic Christmas tree to decorate her new living room in Lujiazui, the financial center in Shanghai, as she always did when back in France.

"It keeps longer than a real tree. And it won't be wasted as I can reuse it next year," she said.

Lallenent said she feels a bustling and energetic atmosphere in Shanghai.

"It is like any European city, and I do not feel homesick at all here," she said.