With just a 1% Christian share of the population, it's no surprise that Christmas holds a somewhat different place in China than in Germany. But it is celebrated and is on the festive rise in many regions - just without the religious background. Christmas isn't a public holiday in the People's Republic, either. Only for Chinese Christians, or Christians living in China, is Christmas really the celebration of the year.
Where is Christmas celebrated in China?
Instead of Christmas, most Chinese families rather celebrate the Chinese New Year that follows in January (also called the 'Spring Festival'). Because Christian influence in China is very small and Christianity plays a very minor role as a religion, the Chinese also don't have the original, religious connection to the holiday, which centers on the birth of Jesus Christ. Nonetheless, it's celebrated in many large and internationally shaped cities and provinces - because the rising popularity is, of course, commercially driven and thus economically significant. In the two internationally oriented special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, therefore, different rules apply; here Christmas actually and officially is a public holiday. While Christmas Eve is a full holiday in Macau, in Hong Kong it's only December 25 and 26. There, though, the British influences show: December 26 is known, just as in Britain, as 'Boxing Day.'
Taiwan is also off - but only because Christmas and Constitution Day happen to fall on the same day there. Along the coast and in large cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Guilin, Christmas is also celebrated publicly: with big Christmas trees, lavish decorations, and shimmering lights. Above all in the stores and department stores, of course. But instead of real spruces, plastic trees predominate. The farther you go into the interior and to the west of the People's Republic of China, the fewer traces of Christmas you find in the Buddhist-influenced country. In most of the western towns and villages of China, Christmas is even relatively unknown.
Merry Christmas in Chinese: 圣诞快乐 (Shèngdàn kuàilè / shnng-dan kwhy-ler)
At a glance
- Young Chinese in particular celebrate Christmas
- Christmas in China is commercially rather than religiously shaped
- Christmas is a mix of New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day
How do the Chinese celebrate Christmas?
Similar to Japan, Christmas in this country, too, is a mix of New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day and less of a family day. That's why it's mainly young Chinese who celebrate the originally Christian holiday. Instead of gift-giving surrounded by loved ones, Christmas Eve is much more shaped by celebrating members of the younger generation. People meet up with friends and acquaintances for dinner in restaurants or at home, in the karaoke bar, or in clubs. Because of the commercial rather than holy spirit, many stores lure customers with extended opening hours and, of course, all sorts of discounts and special offers. In general, Chinese Christmas lacks customs compared with Germany: an Advent wreath and a fir tree in one's own four walls are just as uncommon as the gifts that go under it in other countries. Instead of gifts - which are given at the Spring Festival, though - children look forward much more to attractions and entertainment programs with a fairground character. There is a Santa Claus figure, 'Shengdan Laoren' (圣诞老人), too, but he plays more the role of a commercial ambassador than a gift-bringer. Because of all this, some see Christmas in China as a foretaste of the festive New Year that follows just a few weeks later.
