‘Tis The Season For Chinese Christmas Cheer

As the enoVate blog opens its doors to more and more contributors, both of Chinese and international pedigree, we will post their interesting and relevant viewpoints. As this Friday is Christmas we are posting some unique perspectives on Chinese youth and Christmas in smaller cities in China. Our first post is from Zach Reff, a reporter for the Blue Ocean Network in Beijing who has lived in China so long that he nearly believes Santa is just an old foreigner in need of a good shave.

The text messages came fast and furious on a chilly December day three years ago.

“Merry Christmas Zach”
“Wish you a happy Christmas!”
“Christmas cheer to you! Hope you hoppy (sic) every day!”

The funny thing, aside from the spelling error suggesting that I’m somehow rabbit-like, was that I received these Christmas greetings from my Chinese friends and colleagues in spite of the fact that I had told them all that I’m Jewish and don’t celebrate Christmas. It just didn’t seem to compute. I’m foreign. I’m white. I’m an American. Therefore, I must celebrate Christmas!

When I moved to Hunan Province in south central China more than three years ago, the last thing I expected to find in December was a landscape awash in Christmas tidings. Yet, there it was. Sometime in early November, the decorations first started to appear — Paper Santas plastered on storefronts; Christmas trees standing guard at mall entrances; Merry Christmas banners in both Chinese and English.

Most of the decorations were poor quality and didn’t seem designed to last more than a few weeks. The color palette was bright and garish, and it wasn’t limited to the usual American blend of deep reds and dark greens. Instead, Santas greeted me with glowing pink eyes, and banners were just as likely to include gold and silver as they were to focus on crimson and clover. Still, one couldn’t deny the joyfulness in the air.

By the time Christmas day arrived, virtually every single storefront in Changsha, the capital of Hunan, was covered in Christmas decorations. In fact, the Christmas cheer was so ubiquitous that stores without decorations seemed startlingly out of place. By the time December 25th arrived, I came to a shocking realization – there were more stores decked-out for Christmas in Changsha than I had ever seen in an American city.

Interestingly though, the festive hijinks appeared to stop cold at the retail level. None of my Chinese friends decorated their houses for Christmas, and, to this day, I’ve never seen a family here put up lights or a tree in their house to celebrate.

Yet, the store-side decorations left me puzzled. Do the Chinese actually celebrate Christmas? Was there a stealthy undercurrent of Christianity running through China that I had never noticed?

For clarity on the matter, I decided to ask some of my classes at the middle school in which I volunteered at the time. Most of my students had a low English ability, so I phrased my questions carefully. First, I put a big picture of Santa Claus on the board. “Who is this?’ I asked. Nothing. A room full of blank stares. The students were all familiar with the image, but none of them had a clue who this man was. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, a student tentatively raised her hand. “He is the old foreign Christmas man,” she said. Close enough, I thought.

Next question – “What is the purpose of Christmas?” I asked. More silence, and this time, an answer never came. Despite their hometown being awash in Christmas decorations, the students had no idea what the point of the holiday was. To them, it was just a colorful foreign festival that gave them an excuse to go shopping, find good sales and have fun.

For the youth of China, it appears that while Christmas imagery and decorations abound, the holiday has only been imported on a surface level – shopping, gifts and cheer, without any deeper meaning. Americans love to lament the fact that Christmas has become over-commercialized. But, in China meanwhile, the holiday exists on a purely superficial level for many youth.

Which left me wondering… With the increasing importance of China on the world stage, how long is it before storefronts in western nations start to blindly put up decorations for Chinese holidays? I can see it now…

Next week at Walmart: Save 5 percent on all home appliances to celebrate Dragon Boat Festival!