New consumption gives birth to ＂New Year’s goods＂. Young people March into the world of bracelets and wear new fashions ｜ The ＂taste of the year＂ in the bill

Cover journalist Zhu Zhu

Crystal-clear strings of beads of various colors string together auspicious and beautiful wishes. In the past, most bracelets belonged to wenwan collection, which is the standard for middle-aged and elderly people to retire. Now, with young people starting to string together, bracelets have once again entered the public’s field of vision and become a new fashion item.

Cinnabar bracelets became popular during the Spring Festival

As the Spring Festival approaches, bracelets are transformed into new "new year’s goods", which are bought by many young people to send friends or elders, pinning the "good fortune" of the New Year. According to the reporter’s investigation, in addition to the eighteen seeds and thymelaeaceae bracelets that have been burned in recent two years, especially during the Chinese New Year, cinnabar bracelets are very popular. An e-commerce platform shows that the turnover of bracelets has increased by more than 2 times since 2024. Some merchants also said that the recent sales of cinnabar bracelets have doubled, and the buying trend of young people, especially after 00, is obvious.

Young people fall in love with metaphysics?

Some consumers spend 10,000 yuan to buy a string.

Last year, related topics such as queuing for hot strings in the Lama Temple and primary school students’ "addiction" to strings were listed on the hot search one after another, which aroused public concern and made the bracelet culture, a thousand-year-old traditional culture in China, become a new fashion again. Nowadays, young people who fall in love with bracelets have their own "spiritual metaphysics", which can also be said to be a way to pin their good wishes.

Star sharing bracelet

If we start from the history of bracelets, the story behind this goes back to ancient times. However, according to the process trend, it is understood that eighteen seeds with beautiful meaning and exquisiteness can be described as online celebrity bracelets, which are not only affordable but also freely matched, and are loved by young consumers and primary players of bracelets. Since 2024, the search volume of eighteen seeds bracelets on related e-commerce platforms has increased by as much as 80 times year-on-year. From the perspective of consumers, male users prefer walnut bracelets, thymelaeaceae bracelets and topaz bracelets; Female users prefer cinnabar bracelets, south red bracelets and amethyst bracelets.

Mao Mao, who was still in college, came across a crystal bracelet shared by others on the social platform and tried to buy one. "But after that, I couldn’t stop. In one year, I bought more than 20 bracelets, ranging from a dozen yuan cheaper to about 200 yuan more expensive."

Looking through social platforms, the reporter found that there are also many collectors who pay for their favorite expensive bracelets. After into the pit, there are not a few people who spend 10,000 yuan to buy bracelets, and consumers start Diy bracelets. "At first, I bought finished products. Later, with more and more bracelets, I began to buy various materials for DIY. Compared with finished products, DIY will be more cost-effective." Mao Mao said.

Cinnabar bracelets are popular in the New Year.

Merchant: Sales volume has doubled compared with usual.

On the stall near the middle of Mianyang Grand View Garden, Ms. Shang’s shop is hung with a dazzling array of bracelets. Young people who come and go pass by must stop and wait and see for a while. She has been selling bracelets here for 25 years, and she has chosen an exquisite new product to explain it skillfully to reporters.

Young people share the experience of buying bracelets on social platforms.

"Especially before major exams such as college entrance examination and postgraduate entrance examination, more customers will buy a string of bracelets with beautiful meanings. Although bracelets have exploded among young people in the past two years, physical stores have been hit by online stores. Our beading business is mainly maintained by old customers."

Ms. Shang makes new bracelets every year according to the most popular styles of the year. She told reporters that cinnabar bracelets became popular this year. In traditional culture, cinnabar is regarded as an auspicious thing, which means good luck and peace. As a gift during the Spring Festival, it can express blessing and care.

Relevant e-commerce platform data show that this year, the flow of core single products of cinnabar bracelets has increased by more than 1,600 times year-on-year, and the flow of core single products of cinnabar red rope has increased by more than 300 times. Mr. Liu, the person in charge of Amy, who has been engaged in the wenwan industry for more than ten years, told the reporter that in fact, cinnabar bracelets have been very popular in the epidemic in recent years. Before that, everyone brought red ropes for the New Year. In recent years, everyone brought cinnabar bracelets. Near the Spring Festival, the sales of cinnabar bracelets have doubled compared with usual.

"The price of cinnabar itself is not expensive, but the market is mixed. For example, most of the bracelets on the online 9.9 yuan are fakes. I suggest you buy them carefully." Mr. Liu told reporters that generally speaking, the price of ordinary cinnabar bracelets on the Internet is around 40 and 50 yuan. Better bracelets, including crystal sand, have higher collection value, ranging from several hundred to several thousand, but the price of physical stores may be higher.

Behind the craze for bracelets

Young people’s inheritance of national tide culture

China is a big cultural country with a long history. As a thousand-year-old traditional handicraft, bracelets have a broad consumption base in the domestic market. According to statistics, the scale of China’s wenwan e-commerce market is expanding rapidly, and the data growth is obvious. There are more than 4.6 million notes on bracelets on related social platforms.

"When the wenwan collection was very hot in previous years, the price of wenwan was very high, but now wenwan has become less expensive." Mr. Liu told reporters that bracelets, in particular, have different fashion trends every year, and their prices are changing according to market conditions. Because the prices of bracelets are different, there is no restriction on consumer groups and consumption ages. Now young people can afford them, and many people are willing to play bracelets.

In Mr. Liu’s view, young people are simply pinning their hopes on bracelets, and there is no need to study wenwan in depth. It is just that the dividend period of the bracelet industry is short and the competition among peers is great.

In the traditional sense, the dish string culture focuses on the state of mind. Young people buy bracelets not only for fun and decoration, but also for "spiritual sustenance" and "self-healing". Some wenwan collectors in the industry believe that the hand string can make them sink their hearts to think and feel to a certain extent, which is a way to explore inward. Of course, the post-90s and post-00s are the generation who like to break the circle. They are good at breaking the inherent cognition and like bracelet culture, which is also the embodiment of the cultural self-confidence of the new generation of young people. On the good side, this is the pursuit of spiritual culture and the love and inheritance of the culture of the country and the DPRK.