Although China's central authority has strict regulations against extravagance, offenses continue, especially during holidays and festivals.
During Spring Festival holiday which ended on Saturday, some creative officials found new ways to break the regulations.
Officials tried to give presents to their superiors in novel ways, avoiding dinner in restaurants and instead going to "private places", according to cases revealed by discipline inspection agencies at various levels.
Chinese people traditionally give out "red envelopes" to friends and relatives, especially minors during Special Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, hoping to bring good luck and happiness to receivers. However, the tradition has been misappropriated by corrupt officials.
In Kunming, Yunnan Province, 60 local officials were found giving or accepting red envelopes, including one official who sent envelopes worth 809,000 yuan (125,000 U.S. dollars) using public funds. In Guangdong in 2015, 558 officials were punished for red-envelope offenses worth 22.6 million yuan.
A lot of alcohol is consumed during Spring Festival and officials have been told to reduce number of the banquets they attend, and to remain reasonable and abstemious. In recent days, however, several officials died of alcohol poisoning in provinces of Anhui and Hunan during banquets with their colleagues and superiors.
