Christmas in China was a culture shock

As the arrival of Spring Festival is celebrated on the eve so the tradition follows for their new celebration of Christmas. Christmas in China has been widely embraced by commercialism in the cities where high-end shopping centres put up spectacular Christmas decoration displays.

All students love another occasion to celebrate, as it’s a welcome break from the drudgery of study. However to what extent different schools celebrate I cannot say.

One Christmas I worked at a small privately owned English training college where the approach of Christmas gave the foreign teachers an opportunity to teach students Christmas carols and stories in English. They loved Jingle Bells. I coached my advanced class learn to read “T’was the night before Christmas”. This was quite a challenge and they were sure they could not do it, but they shone on the night. I was so proud of them.

The school was decorated in garish cardboard images of Santa Claus, lots of tinsel and a fake Christmas tree. I introduced the idea of ‘Secret Santa’. My explanation met with blank looks, but no one commented. I sent notes to all students and staff explaining how it worked and placed a suitable box in the office for collection of the gifts.

Finally someone really understood the concept so they explained it to others and quickly it became a much talked about activity. In a culture where a bag of fruit is an acceptable gift, buying a gift and wrapping it was a whole new concept for most and it was high on their worry level. The talking I got involved in was always “what shall I buy”? I become involved in quite a few shopping trips. Making it easier for us all was that we lived in a high tourist area where novel gifts were easy to find. There was a price limit. As I had a bit of control over some purchases I was able to make sure there was no doubling up on gifts.

The evening began with everyone gathering in the function room wearing Christmas hats. Games, singing and physical activities were all included; it’s extremely funny watching adults play musical chairs as it takes seconds for cheating to join in too. There was a constant stream of snack foods, which included small mandarins that are in season at this time and represent good fortune.

There were group performances with classes competing with each other for the prize of a bigger bag of snacks. The climax came when ‘Secret Santa’ arrived with his box of gifts. There was so much laughter as gifts were opened. Some found something totally unsuitable, some swapped with others, some went silently into bags never to be seen again, others were delighted. One boy who received a toothbrush told me it was OK, as he needed a new one. It was all so much fun.

Christmas day arrived and it was back to class as usual. Christmas was over. But the decorations stayed. Finally about three weeks later I could stand it no longer and I insisted they all be removed. I carefully removed all the Father Christmas faces and put them into storage for the following year.

Have you enjoyed Christmas somewhere other than Australia? What cultural changes did you see in the celebrations?