With China facing challenges such as air pollution and cancer, it is not surprising that “good health” topped the list of 10 wishes that Chinese picked for the Lunar New Year. The choice of Spring Festival wish is done by just picking one character from an app produced by China Central Television News.
They then shared their choice of character on their social media profile. Global Times reported that the character kang, or wealth, was picked by more than 670,000 people on the first day. The daily explained its selection as the top character to growing health concerns in China such as the air pollution that envelopes major cities, stress, unhealthy lifestyles, obesity and cancer.
It is not surprising that cancer is a big concern in China of which 2.8 million died in 2015, or 7,500 every day.
With the gender imbalance in China, many singles realize that wishing for a spouse, or even a relationship, is an out-of-reach dream, so the character for “love” is only seventh on the list. Before “love” came “good fortune” (fu), “happiness” (le), “safety” (an” and “luck” (ji).
To reflect the difficulty in owning a house, “homes” and “salaries” are also on the top 10 list which ended with “shou” or “thin.” “Shou” is rightly on the list because of the food overload they went through during the Lunar New Year Eve dinner.
Even before taking their dinner, 30 percent of Chinese are considered overweight in 2012, higher by one-third 10 years ago, according to the Chinese National Health and Family Planning Commission, reported Xinhua News Agency.