2009年,困扰一切家庭的,依然是衣吃住行这一基本问题，而在金融危机和高房价的压力下，房子、低收入成了最大的痛苦之源...

House! House! Housing is always a big issue for people. Nobody wants to be a drifter with no place to settle down. For many Chinese young people, the whole year of hard work in 2009 was for buying an apartment.

"Housing is a big issue for me. I want to buy a second apartment, but the price at present is so high that I have to postpone my plan."

"I think the housing prices nowadays are soaring. I had planned to buy an apartment earlier this year, but two or three months later the prices soared to an incredible level, so high that I couldn't believe it! So I had to quit. My biggest plan for 2009 - buying an apartment - has now gone with the wind.

"I am an immigrant to Beijing. I really want to have an apartment of my own, but I want to say, buying an apartment is what only the rich can do, while me, who is not rich at all, has nothing to do with buying an apartment."

Housing is always an issue for most people. For some who are lucky and ambitious, it may be a question of affording one more spare property. But for most people, owning a home is a remote dream.

However, life goes on, despite the hardships. After all, we have jobs. For young people in their early 20s, like Lin Xiaojun (林小军), who just graduated and started life in the workforce, and they know they will never lose hope as they make efforts.

"For me the biggest issue in 2009 is switching the focus of my life to work. I am now 25 years old and I should start to focus on working. This is my biggest change in 2009."

Lin Xiaojun says work can not only bring him a full life and sense of accomplishment, but more importantly, the financial basis for his survival. Making a living is his present target, he says, while leading a high-quality life through his efforts is his long-term dream.

Work is an unceasing practice for not only young starters, but also the veterans in their 30s or 40s, like Mr. Zheng. He says for people of his age, especially men, they expect money far more than a sense of accomplishment or glory from work, as they have become more realistic. Looking back at the whole year, he says the global financial crisis worried him a lot.

"The company I have been working for is suffering a profit recession due to the financial crisis. Thus they have stopped paying us bonuses and increasing our salaries. My salary hasn't been increased for two years. Thus the financial crisis is the biggest issue for me in 2009."

Besides the financial crisis, environmental protection was also a global concern in 2009. The Copenhagen climate conference in December attracted huge attention among Chinese people. In fact, environmental protection has been a hot issue in China over the past year.

Both celebrities and ordinary people were talking about ways to reduce carbon emissions and make the earth greener.

Zhao Yong (赵咏), who is working in foreign trade, says environmental awareness is a long-term benefit for the next generations.

"Now our environmental protection awareness has been enhanced much. For example, when we buy a car, we will realize that the ones with big exhausting power will cause air pollution and we may not buy them."

The year 2010 is coming. Will houses, work and environmental protection continue to be the big issues for people in the new year? We will see.