According to Wang Xin, a design director at Sohu, in order to attract more people, especially those between 20 and 40 in age, the free electronic cards will have a variety of styles, such as Chinese traditional, western, classic and those designed for Christmas and the New Millennium Day.

According to Wang, it also costs less money to send green cards. At present, an ordinary paper card costs about two yuan (0.25 US dollars), but an electronic card costs less than 0.2 yuan.

When Christmas and New Year's Day approached in the past, the huge number of cards would often force post offices to announce that they could not guarantee timely deliveries, and required additional postage to insure quick deliveries. This year, however, these notices have not appeared.

"Fewer people are coming here to buy cards this year, even though they are of high quality and finely designed," said a shopkeeper in the bustling Xidan district of Beijing. "Last year my cards sold very well."

However, not everyone has said bye-bye to paper cards. After buying ten cards for his family and friends, a soldier who repairs aircraft said he did even think of using electronic cards but the Internet is unavailable in his office and he does not own a computer.

He thinks green cards may be good for environmental protection. "When I can afford it, I will certainly say hello to my parents by green card," said the young soldier who is from a remote village in China.