Beijing marks New Year with shopping spree

 BEIJING, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Beijing's major commercial outlets¹ started the year 2013 with a business boom as shopping prevailed over travels as citizens' favorite activity during the New Year holiday.

Beijing marked the "coldest New Year" from January 1 to 3, with temperatures constantly dropping below minus-10 degrees Celsius², and the bitter cold might have contributed to the business boom by luring³ many holiday goers into air-conditioned shopping malls.

Statistics from Beijing Commercial Information Consulting Center show the 100 major commercial and service enterprises in the city recorded 2.34 billion yuan (372 million U.S. dollars) in sales during the three-day holiday, rising 8.4 percent from a year earlier.

Gold products were among Beijingers' most favored shopping items due to traditional affections in the precious metal as New Year gifts and the upward trend in the gold price globally, according to the center.

Caishikou and Guohua, two major gold markets in Beijing, raked in more than 400 million yuan from the three days' sales of gold products, the center said.

Sales of household appliances was also sanguine⁴, with the troika of Suning, Gome and Dazhong Electronics reporting a year-on-year increase of 14.1 percent in the three days' sales revenue.

Despite the chilly⁵ weather, Beijing remained a magnet for domestic and foreign tourists. The city received 1.53 million visitors during the holiday, up 19.2 percent year on year, according to tourist authorities.

Beijing and Shanghai on Tuesday started the 72-hour visa-free stay policy, a move to encourage transit⁶ foreign visitors to travel and shop in the two cities.

1 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

3 luring   

吸引，引诱（lure的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Cheese is very good for luring a mouse into a trap. 奶酪是引诱老鼠上钩的极好的东西。
• Her training warned her of peril and of the wrong, subtle, mysterious, luring. 她的教养警告她：有危险，要出错儿，这是微妙、神秘而又诱人的。

4 sanguine   

adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的

参考例句：

• He has a sanguine attitude to life.他对于人生有乐观的看法。
• He is not very sanguine about our chances of success.他对我们成功的机会不太乐观。

5 chilly   

adj.凉快的，寒冷的

参考例句：

• I feel chilly without a coat.我由于没有穿大衣而感到凉飕飕的。
• I grew chilly when the fire went out.炉火熄灭后，寒气逼人。

6 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。