北京的圣诞节 (Christmas in Beijing)

It's that time of year, where if I were still a Stanford student, I would have just finished finals and would be at home sleeping in, frantically looking for Christmas gifts for family, and spending time with old friends. The Christmas season has, in many ways, hit China. I was in Walmart the day after Thanksgiving, and they were selling Christmas decorations and playing carols. Malls and restaurants have Christmas decorations up, just like in the States. I'm sure I could easily find a tree to put up in my apartment if I wanted to but getting it up 6 flights of stairs would be quite a task. Still, in China, Christmas is a work day. It's a Tuesday, so I don't have to teach but all my friends are still at work, and the plan probably consists of just a dinner out, which is how young Chinese people celebrate Christmas anyway.

I've been teaching a Christmas lesson this week during which the most interesting discussion question asked about whether its a good thing that Christmas is becoming so popular around the world, even in non-Christian countries. Most students said yes, citing the happiness and love that holidays inspire, as well as the cultural connection it could provide They also inevitably mentioned that businessmen profit greatly from Christmas and that the more days for rest and relaxation, the better. Most classes usually had at least one person who saw a downside. One girl called it "cultural invasion" (and she has a point - globalization brings a lot more of Western culture to China then Chinese culture to the West), while most others emphasized the importance of remembering traditional Chinese festivals instead.

Still, just as America changes its imported holidays, food, traditions, etc, there is a Chinese version of Christmas. Like in the US, it's highly commercialized and people love to shop, though it seems like usually on Christmas Eve. However, for young Chinese, Christmas is about spending time with friends, not family, since their parents do not normally celebrate the holiday and Spring Festival is right around the corner anyway. And most interesting of all (at least for Chinese learners/speakers) is the tradition of giving people apples and oranges. It comes from a play on words in Chinese - apple (苹果) stands for peace (平安 their first syllable is pronounced the same way), while orange (橙) stands for success (成功 ).


See this article for similar insights: http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=10118