Comments on: It’s Christmas in Chicago…and Fuzhou!

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:46:58 +0000

Have no worries about the Spring festival. It’s gonna be kept alive and well in Chinese hearts for a long time to come I celebrate both Christmas and the Spring Festival and do both with equal fervour.

By: Tao

Tao — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 02:06:01 +0000

I doubt chinese spring festival would fade away. I guess the reason why young people are not so excited about it is because it is family holiday. Most shops would close over the period. There is nothing much to do except visiting relatives and dining at home. I am not sure about the young kids now. But I would not visit anyone not related for more than just saying “happy new year”. It is sort of rude for disturbing their family time.

By: coljac

coljac — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:35:33 +0000

Surely it’s a stretch to portray Christmas in the West as a solemn religious occasion. Neither I nor my family are Christian, but we still celebrate Christmas with presents and a family get together. Perhaps Thanksgiving takes this role in the US, but in the rest of the West (such as Australia) Christmas is near enough to secular.

By: McBetty

McBetty — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 03:27:52 +0000

No Christmas tree is Fuzhou. This is my 4th Christmas in Fuzhou and the first year people are not able to buy the 5RMB ornament that they write their prayers and place on the 40-foot tree for the “god” Father Christmas to answer. I think the notoriety of Christmas is fading here in Fuzhou. It is not new to the locals and I think to the dismay of the shopping mall that sells the 5rmb ornament, someone told them that Santa is not real nor a God.

Christmas now is just another western holiday they have brought into their culture. They celebrate all these holidays pretty much in the same manner; go out to eat, get drunk and have fun.

I see a big push by local Chinese and the Chinese government to focus on Traditional Chinese holidays. This year was the first to have the holiday dongzhi recognized and given the day off from work. Christmas is a workday here, yet New Years Eve and Day are holidays at most multinationals.

By: owshawng

owshawng — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 01:38:49 +0000

Christmas seems pretty commercialized in the US too. Much more then Australia is.

I knew of Taiwanese and Chinese who are not Christians who want to get married in US churches because they think the churches look romantic. Westerners do the same thing with Asian culture and religion. I bet we all know surfers or stoners with a yin-yang tatto., or hanzi gibberish that they think has some deep meaning.

By: Shamu

Shamu — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 18:45:50 +0000

Ben, Christmas, like everything else western that was promoted mainly by commercial forces, has taken on new meanings when imported to China. As you observed, the celebration is more commercial than cultural or religious. That makes it completely different from other traditional Chinese holidays. Unlike in the US, where celebrating an ethnic holiday or custom is hoped to lead to more understanding of a different culture, in China, this is almost all driven by commercial interests and pays little tribute to the original meaning of the holiday. It does little to enhance understanding. Maybe to the opposite, it adds more misunderstanding by sending the wrong message about the holiday. Sometimes, knowing something at the surface is worse than knowing nothing at all. Coincidentally, if you haven't noticed, there is another piece written by a fellow American Jew about his Christmas experience in China by Alan Paul at the WSJ's The Expat Life column. Shamu

By: Matt Miles

Matt Miles — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 07:34:08 +0000

Chinese go in for the western things, especially if theres a lot of.. well i call it tack, others, decoration. Take the Chinese valentines day for example which I believe is the 7th of the 7th month? Well anyway, whilst adopting the tack that inevitably comes with Christmas and Valentines day, the celebrating of the Christmas day is essentially empty and devoid of ‘true christmas spirit’ although you could argue that’s becoming more and more true in the west. For a country where ‘tradition’ is brought up everyday and almost persistantly on TV i don’t see the western celebration of Christmas in China taking of in any significat sense.

By: 羲

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 09:20:15 +0000

i think the significance of the Chinese Spring Festival will not be suppled by Christmas day forever.
many youth people think a lot of romantic, so when the christmas day’s coming, maybe they are more excited than the wrikly and older people.
but the Chinese culture decide the Spring Festival will be the firt in the Chinese people’s heart.

By: canrun

canrun — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 06:47:31 +0000

And interesting factoid: Christmas trees have been banned in the lovely town which I call home. I have my deep suspicions as to the actual reasons why. Nothing happens around here without an ulterior motive…

Can anyone say “harmonious society”??

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071220/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_china_grinch