4 . Are you frustrated by the holiday shopping rush? From money-saving tricks to out-of-the-box gift ideas, read on for more ways to help make this year’s holiday shopping stress-free, safe, and fun.

One of the biggest concerns of holiday shopping is overspending, so be sure to create a budget before you hit the stores.     1    Then, make a list of the people you’d like to give to. If you’re planning to DIY gifts, be sure to factor the cost of materials into your budget.

Small Business Saturday, which encourages shoppers to spend within their communities the Saturday after Thanksgiving, hit a record high last year. It is a hopeful sign for independently owned shops who need holiday dollars more than ever this season.     2    

Sure, promotional emails can block your inbox. However, if you’re a devotee of a particular store they’re worth signing up for as they often include discount codes and sale previews.     3     Most are free to join and offer benefits like exclusive sales for members, discounts on purchases, and rewards for dollars spent.

    4     You can achieve it by buying from companies that give a portion of their profits to important causes. Another great way to make a difference: Choose a charity based on a friend or family member’s passions and make a donation in his or her name.

    5     It adds a thrill to the hunt through flea markets, and souvenir shops, all great sources for affordable gifts. Shopping early is a good idea for online purchases, too. You'll be able to take advantage of sales events and will also ensure presents have plenty of time to arrive.

8 . AI, 5G, cloud computing and other digital technologies are not only changing our lives but shaping the economy as well.

China’s six major commercial banks are stepping up digital wallet efforts to provide new drive for the e-CNY (数字人民币) trials in the country, as reported by Shanghai Securities News on March 23.

“The functions and properties of the-CNY are exactly the same as those of the paper currency, except that the form is digital,” said Mu Changchun, head of the People’s Bank of China’s Digital Currency Research Institute.

Many people are puzzled by e-CNY and electronic payments. “Digital currency has the characteristics of both paper money and electronic payment,” said Wu Qianhong, a professor at the School Electronic and Information Engineering, Beihang University. “In theory, digital currency can replace paper money, Alipay and WeChat payments.”

Compared with Alipay and WeChat payments, e-CNY features anonymity (匿名性) and security. E-commerce platforms that accept payments via e-CNY will not have access to user’s personal information. E-CNY users can open an anonymous digital wallet by registering a mobile phone number, and telecom operators cannot disclose (泄露) customer information to the central bank or any third-party institutions. Mu noted that e-CNY user’s privacy protection is at the highest level among all the existing payment tools.

Similar to Alipay and WeChat payments, using e-CNY requires an account. After obtaining the other party’s account number, users can enter the amount of digital money to transfer (转钱) and then enter the payment password to complete the transaction (交易). However, the process behind these transfers are different. For electronic payments, the transfer has to go through a third party, and the receivers will get the transferred money only when they withdraw money from banks. But e-CNY transfers only need a payer and a receiver to complete a transaction. Therefore, it guarantees risk-free payments, according to Wu.

In simple terms, e-CNY can be considered “money”, while electronic payments are like “wallets”.

10 . When Brian McCarthy’s daughter opened an Amazon package from her grandmother late last month, she discovered a mini Babycakes brand waffle (华夫饼) maker meant to be her Christmas gift.

But when she opened the new waffle maker, she found an old, crusty-looking waffle already inside, her father said.

Amazon sold the item directly through its Prime service, rather than by a third-party merchant that uses the Amazon platform to sell goods to Amazon customers. And the product was not advertised as used or refurbished (翻新过的), according to the screenshot (截图).

Amazon said it was investigating the incident and wouldn’t speculate on possible reasons for the experience unless it had enough evidence. Either way, the case of the crusty waffle serves as a reminder that Amazon customers can still face uncertainty about the origins and authenticity (真实性) of the products they purchase from the site, even when Amazon itself is fulfilling the order. That’s remarkable, considering Amazon accounts for nearly 40 percent of online US retail sales today, according to eMarketer, and considering that Amazon says it cares so much about quality that it employs a vice president of “customer trust.”

Just in the last few months alone, media reports have highlighted the ease with which shoppers on Amazon can — intentionally or unintentionally — purchase everything from fake products, to banned and unsafe products, to items that had previously been thrown in the trash.

In most of these instances, the products in question came from third-party sellers, which account for nearly 60 percent of all products sold on Amazon today. The Wall Street Journal, for example, reported last month that some marketplace sellers list products for sale on Amazon that they have picked up from the trash.