True cost of the 12 days of Christmas: 37,000 US dollars (Feature)

By Hazel Parry Dec 20, 2010, 6:35 GMT

Hong Kong - As Christmas presents go, they are probably the world's best known: Twelve different gifts given to a true love over the 12 days of Christmas.

But where on earth might you find 10 lords a-leaping, or eight maids a-milking, and what you would actually do with them in the unlikely event that you ever got them as Christmas gifts?

In the United States, figuring out the cost of the 12 gifts listed in the Twelve Days of Christmas has become an annual tradition by the PNC bank, which first tallied up the cost at 12,673 dollars in 1984.

That price has climbed steadily to 23,439 dollars this year. But how much would it cost to buy all 79 items in a modern Asian city like Hong Kong?

The climate and Hong Kong's anti-bird flu measures provided the first hurdle for the first gift: A partridge in a pear tree.

'Impossible,' was the verdict of horticulturist Simon Lee Yuk-tai when asked about a pear tree. 'Even apples trees from northern China don't survive. How about a Chiku at 60 dollars? They have a sweet fruit and are easy to grow.'

Scientifically named Manilkara zapota and known as the 'heart fruit' in China, it seemed a good replacement for the pear tree.

The partridge caused more of a problem, because of restrictions on importing live birds due to worries over bird flu.

As an alternative, exotic bird breeder Tsang Wai-kung suggested an Indian Ringneck parrot at 500 dollars.

The second, third and fourth days brought problems because of the same restrictions on importing and keeping birds. With no chance of buying one turtle dove, let alone two, Tsang suggested two love birds for the second day at 65 dollars a pair.

The only way to get three French hens was to buy them ready for the table at 4 dollars per a 1-kilogram bird.

For day four, Tsang recommended an imported magpie, which satisfies the two different versions of the verse being colly - old English for black - and a calling or singing bird. At 50 dollars each, the price for four colly birds is 200 dollars

Day five proved the easiest with five 24-karat gold rings weighing 8 grams costing 384 dollars each or a total of 1,920 dollars.

Day six and the geese a-laying saw a return of the bird flu headache. Even wild geese rarely come to Hong Kong, leaving no option but to choose geese plucked, frozen and ready for the table.

A 4-kilogram goose from Bresse in France, the poultry capital of the world, costs 230 dollars at a local delicatessen - bringing the total of six geese a-frozen to 1,380 dollars.

There are no white swans in Hong Kong, but there are black ones in private gardens which could be bred locally, Tsang said, at a cost of 1,200 each, or seven swans a-swimming at 8,400 dollars.

Day eight proved easier as maids are plentiful in Hong Kong. Agencies charge on average 45 dollars per maid for a four-hour session, but their duties don't include milking or even shopping for milk. So eight maids-a-cleaning came to a cost of 360 dollars.

Gifts nine to 12 all involve entertainers, which according to Ravi Kanasamoorthe of the talent agency Performers.hk, command pretty high prices because of the city's small pool of professional entertainers.

'A Brazilian dance group will cost 580 dollars per dancer,' Kanasamoorthe said putting a price tag of 5,220 dollars on our ninth day gift of nine Brazilians dancing.

A shortage of Hong Kong acrobats left no option but to choose 10 from China for the next gift, with extra travel and accommodation costs pushing the hire-charge to 1,200 dollars per acrobat, or 12,000 dollars for 10 lords a-leaping.

Pipers, on the other hand, are abundance in Hong Kong which boasts around 15 pipe bands. Hiring a sole Scottish piper for a peak celebration such as New Years' Eve costs 190 dollars, according to Ron Abbott, chairman of the Hong Kong Piping Society. Eleven pipers piping would cost 2,090 dollars.

For the 12 drummers, the final gift on the list, Chinese drummers hire out at 385 dollars each, or 4,620 dollars in total.

The total bill for all 79 items listed in the carol came to a whopping 36,827 dollars. That was 50 per cent higher than that of PNC bank, mainly as result of high costs for entertainers and the bird flu measures.

For that sort of price, you'd better hope your true love lasts longer that the 12 days of the song.

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