Chinese New Year Backlash: Paying Strangers to Honor Your Parents Sparks Outrage
A Lunar New Year celebration meant to unite families has instead ignited a national debate in China and it is raising serious questions about tradition, technology and respect.
As millions prepare to welcome the Year of the Horse, a major service platform made a stunning offer. For a fee, it would send a delivery worker to visit your elderly parents, bow in your place, deliver gifts and even livestream the entire interaction. The price tag was steep, nearly one thousand yuan for two hours, but what truly shocked the public was not the cost. It was the idea.
In China, the Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is the most important holiday of the year. It is a time when migrant workers leave the big cities and travel back to their hometowns. It is a ritual rooted in filial piety, the deeply held belief that respect for parents and elders must be shown personally and sincerely. The symbolic act of kneeling and bowing is not just a gesture. It represents gratitude, duty and family continuity.
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So when the platform UU Paotui introduced what it called a “New Year greeting by proxy” service, social media erupted. Many users argued that paying someone to perform such an intimate ritual crosses a moral line. They said it turns affection into a transaction. Others raised concerns about the dignity of the workers themselves, questioning whether kneeling before strangers for money undermines their self-respect.
Facing intense backlash, the company quickly pulled the service. It insisted the idea was meant to help people who genuinely could not travel home, including those working abroad or those with limited mobility. The company also announced a goodwill campaign to deliver free New Year’s Eve dinners to frontline workers who cannot reunite with their families.
But the controversy has exposed something deeper. China’s platform economy has grown rapidly, inserting itself into nearly every aspect of daily life. Groceries, transportation, healthcare appointments, even companionship services are now available at the tap of a screen. Yet this incident suggests there are cultural boundaries that technology cannot easily cross.
At a moment when economic pressures are already straining many families, this debate touches on identity, tradition and the meaning of connection in a digital age. It asks a simple but powerful question: can respect be outsourced?
This story is about more than one company’s misstep. It is about how societies adapt and where they draw the line.
Stay with us for continuing global coverage and deeper analysis as traditions and technology collide in a rapidly changing world.
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