It is of no surprise that COVID-19 has drastically changed the way we live our lives and conduct our business. We are constantly adapting and reevaluating our strategies to provide quality service and products in a timely manner. That being said, the obstacles of dealing with international production and shipments during a pandemic has proven to be an immense uphill climb for vendors and hair replacement salons alike, not too mention the end user, the hair wearer.
The vast majority of hair pieces are either manufactured and or originate from China and Indonesia. That being said, China has a very different cultural way of conducting business during their holiday season than we do here in the west.
Chinese New Year: Spring Festival
2021 Chinese New Year | Year of the Ox
Starting on the 12th of February, and lasting 15 days, China is observing the Lunar Festivities (Chinese New Year). The Spring Festival is a national holiday for the general public. This means that schools, universities, government offices, and most businesses are closed during this time. That being said, some businesses such as banks will often arrange for employees to take shifts working to provide essential services. Additionally, public transport is still available during the period of the Chinese New Year.
Over the course of the holiday, many people take this time to clean their homes to welcome the Spring Festival. They put up the red posters with poetic verses on their doors, pictures to commemorate Chinese New Year on their walls, and their homes are decorated with red lanterns. It is also an opportunity to visit and reunite with family at this time of the year. Many people set off fireworks and firecrackers in the evening of the Spring Festival. Doing this in the hopes of casting away any bad luck and welcoming in good luck. Speaking of luck, the children will often receive “luck” money during this time. People will often wear new clothes and send greetings to one another to celebrate the new year. The festivities also include beating drums and striking gongs which is typically followed by dragon and lion dances to celebrate the Lunar Festival.
Chinese Emperor Shun
According to historical documents, on the day when Shun, who was one of ancient China’s mythological emperors, came to the throne more than 4000 years ago, he led his ministers to worship heaven and earth. From that moment on, that day was regarded as the first day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar. This is the basic origin of Chinese New Year. China adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1911, so Chinese New Year was renamed the Spring Festival.
All in all, this is an important observance in Chinese culture and history. In the U.S., there are no national holidays that require closed government offices, schools, universities, and business for more than a single day at a time. Even so, Christmas Day and Thanksgiving Day are the only holidays that we observe that involve the majority of our businesses closing up shop. Because of this difference, it can greatly affect work production and shipment during The Lunar Festival between China and, essentially, anyone they are doing business with either nationally or internationally. That means no hair or hair product production from China, during this time, as well as no shipping until the end of the holiday either. This happens on many occasions and most people here in the US, unfortunately, do not understand that, let alone the impact on those orders.
What makes this even more challenging, is with the pandemic in full swing, we are already experiencing delays and back orders that in some cases are over 10 months in the maki