The Spring Festival in China is a very big event celebrated by the entire country. This time of year is the busiest travel season of the year. Chinese citizens who have moved away from family to work in cities with more opportunities use this time to travel back to their family homes, many of which are in rural parts of China, to be with family for the holiday celebrations. Many of the non-essential services shutdown and most businesses close for around two weeks to celebrate the festivities with family.

Another important fact about this holiday is that, this is the time when pecans are given as gifts, much like they are in the US during Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year may be a little different with pecan consumption given that the trade war between the US and China is still not resolved, and far fewer pecans were imported this year by China as compared to years past.

This year is the Year of the Pig. The spring festival celebrations will culminate on February 5th with the official bringing in of the Chinese New Year.

While the Chinese pecan buyers did not import as many US Pecans, they did shift purchasing habits to Mexico, and purchased larger quantities of pecans from our southern neighbors. This is still positive for the pecan industry as a whole due to the fact that the Chinese have developed a taste for and purchasing habits for the pecan, and hopefully the trade war will not dispel the strides made in getting pecans on the shelves and in the shopping bags of the Chinese consumer.