Nobody says Merry Christmas, In China, Today

BEIJING -- Christmas might not be the state run day off in China -- banks, offices and schools are open as normal. But the xmas being a larger and larger event here, millions were finding ways -- some somewhat offbeat, others downright traditional -- to share with you inside seasonal spirit.

It’s nigh impossible to go into a Beijing mall this time around of the season without hearing “Jingle Bells” or “Deck the Halls” playing; in the U-Town mall, even clerks at the Chinese sausage stand donned Santa hats. Management on the Chaoyang Joy City arranged for live penguins to go on display in a refrigerated box for four days and a amount of Santas may very well be found lending their laps to local children.

This coming year, some venues were selecting Chinese Kris Kringles as an alternative to ponying up for foreign Father Christmases just as past years. Some news outlets described this being a cost-cutting move, with businesses fearing the federal government’s recent austerity campaign against officials’ extravagant gift-giving and banqueting would reduce Christmas spending and thus their profits.

(No less than one jewelry company, though, bucked
the popularity, sponsoring an “authentic Santa Claus from Finland” to go to the location of Jinan. The Scandinavian country has been mounting efforts in promoting Santa’s Finnish heritage to Chinese consumers, recently allocating some $400,000 to a publicity and tourism campaign.)

Nys-run China Daily reported that upscale hotels in Nanjing, Guangzhou and other cities had slashed prices for Christmas buffets to about $140, down from $300 or higher in 2012.

Those that have more modest Christmas gift-giving budgets could opt for a distinctively Chinese strategy to mark the holiday -- giving “peace apples” on Christmas Eve. 

Peace apples are regular, individual apples packaged in the special box or engrossed in colored paper; some have messages like “Merry Christmas” stenciled to them.  At about $1.50, they’re more than doubly expensive as being a regular apple but within the reach of regular consumers. Teenage boys in particular discover their whereabouts a fascinating gift for girlfriends; several of the boxes are decorated with hearts and lips, as an alternative to Santas and Christmas trees.

The tradition, which dates back at the very least several years, appears to stem on the undeniable fact that the Chinese word for apple, pingguo, sounds just like word for Christmas Eve, pinganye.

On Tuesday, 35-year-old Liu Xingwen was investing in a peace apple on her behalf 5-year-old son, Li, close to the Yonghegong subway station. He'd already received his major Christmas gift, a giant Lego set, on Monday.

“He’s got school on Christmas Day, so we gave him his big gift early,” she said. The peace apple, she said, was just a little bonus.

For many young, urban Chinese, Christmas is a “festival” for being spent with friends, in contrast to Chinese New Year, and that is heavily family-oriented and freighted with obligations to search long distances to check out relatives in distant hometowns. The upcoming Chinese New Year begins by the end of January.

Tsao Jiahui, 22, a school student from Jinan, took selling point of her Christmas break at school to travel to Beijing having a friend. On Wednesday morning, these folks were taking photos of a statue on the Virgin Mary and Jesus before Wangfujing Catholic Church, situated within the capital’s busiest shopping street.

“I simply much like the sculpture, the actual way it looks. I understand Christmas is concerning the birth of Jesus, but I’m less than sure about Santa plus the trees and many types of that, where that originated,” Tsao said. “This can be a holiday for spending with friends, sending gifts like apples.”

In front of the church, nuns including 60-year-old Sister Lu were selling rosaries and candles and offering informational pamphlets about Christianity. Curious passersby, a lot of whom were toting shopping bags from your nearby luxury goods mall, crowded around. “Are these giveaways?” one older woman in a green fur coat and oversized sunglasses asked.

“There were three Chinese services today, so two English services,” Lu said. “This year there have been substantially more people -- the Christmas Eve service was an overflow crowd, with many different students.”

China’s Christian population remains small but keeps growing. According to the Pew Research facility’s Religion and Public Life Project, some 67 million Chinese, or about 5% in the population, are Christian. An investigation released in September during the ninth National Chinese Christian Congress said more than 2.4 million Protestants were baptized in mainland China between 2008 and 2012.

China’s government maintains strict regulations on religious activities, allowing adherents to congregate only in authorized venues such as the Wangfujing church and banning house churches, although such gatherings are growing in popularity.

But 76-year-old Wang Xuejing, who had previously been praying in front of the Wangfujing church Wednesday, declared viewed from a historical perspective, the atmosphere for adherents for instance her has improved markedly in recent decades in contrast to her youth, when Christians and also other believers were harshly persecuted.

“Throughout the Cultural Revolution, [which lasted from 1966 to 1976], I had to quit doing anything religious for 10 years -- I did to pray only within my heart. It wasn’t until about 1992 which i really did start to get it again,” said Wang, who now attends the church weekly. “The federal government is more flexible now. The priests, they range from the Chinese officials within their prayers, asking God to bless them and do a better job of helping the folks.”

Wang said she was encouraged as to what she said would have been a growing interest among younger Chinese in Christianity. “These days, we have now so many moral problems, a reduction in education, lack of manners, contaminated milk, etc. … If people resume religion, it can benefit them and in addition make society more honest.”

Anthonies Li, a 19-year-old university student, was coming to the church on Christmas morning. He explained he had attended church in the hometown but had never been to one as grand because one inch Wangfujing. He started attending services about a couple of years ago with friends, he was quoted saying, after reading about Christianity in some books.

“I do think people just want some happiness; some individuals pray to Jesus for fortune,” he said. “I prefer the decorations, and also the singing. … I pray sometimes. But I don’t fully realize tips on how to still do it.”

Nobody says Merry Christmas, In China, Today 2013-12-25T09:47:00-08:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: Unknown