Tuesday 10 January 2017

CHRISTMAS IN CHINA

Hi Guys in this post I want to talk about what Christmas is like here in China,

So a couple of weeks ago, I had spent my second Christmas here in China. Now Christmas is not considered a national holiday here in China, fortunately as foreign teacher I was entitled to a day off for Christmas. Well the previous year I did, the Christmas just gone was on a sunday, so it was a non working day anyway...so no extra day off. Oh and boxing day doesn't exist here so no holiday for that either. It's just another working day

However you can see Christmas trees, and beautifully decorated malls, which are really festive. Thankfully even both Costa and Starbucks also had their festive drinks. I have a coffee obsession, so I was sooooooo happy! Black forest hot chocolate though 😍😍😍
Starbucks Pomegranate and Green tea latte

Starbucks Yule log

McDonald's Black forest pie

McCafe (McDonald's) Gingerbread men

McCafe (McDonald's) Gingerbread Latte


Costa Creme brulee latte


Costa Black Forest Hot chocolate & Festive cheescake

Costa Gingerbread Latte

The most creative tree I have ever seen

So yeah there was a lot of Santa Claus everywhere. Apparently there was even a Santa Claus parade in Luohu and OCT on Christmas eve, but I didn't find out until after t had already finished....SO SAAAAAAD, 
This is the problem. Even if there are events going on, there isn't much promotion, or if there is it's probably in Chinese so you would have no idea...if you can't read Chinese.

In Haagen Dasz at Coco park

outside MixC mall

Inside link city


cute Christmas jumper in H&M

Outside Wongtee Plaza


I even heard that there was a Christmas market in Shanghai, but we don't have Christmas holidays so I had no chance to leave the city....so saaaaaaaaad

Any ways, in Shenzhen there are some really great places to buy Christmas trees and decorations from such Walmart, Aeon, Olé, BLT, basically the kind of more international supermarkets. They all have a small selection of Christmas stuff.

But if you want to find some really beautiful stuff, that is somewhat cheaper then you have got to check out the SunGang Christmas Warehouse. They have everything! Christmas trees, baubles, tinsel, beautiful lights, ornaments, even the stuff people put outside in their front garden for decoration..i don't know what they are called. That is located on Bao an bei lu , so bao an north road. The closest metro station is Sungang station on metro line 7. And I think it was exit E?



So anyway, Christmas day in China is called sheng dan jie, which literally means holy birth day. However even though it is called that, there is no sign of anything Christian, or nativity related anywhere. However I did see a Christmas show/ performance at KK One mall By a group called Freedom 61. The show was basically about the true meaning of Christmas. It was really awesome hearing Christian Christmas songs and worship songs sang in both English and mandarin.

So like I said, apart from maybe at a church, or an event such as that one, there is nothing that I have experienced here, that is really “Christian” about Christmas here in China.

So basically it's just like a commercialised day here. Chinese people don't particularly celebrate. So stores and restaurants are open for business as usual. Maybe some young people go out to partys or clubbing events, that are “Christmas” themed. But people here don't celebrate the way we would in the west. And it can be a pretty depressing and lonely time, if you are used to having a big Christmas meal with your family. But not all hope is lost. You may not have the same experience or feeling as you would back home but there are restaurants where you can have a wonderful Christmas meal. My friends and I went to a place in Luohu, close to guo mao station. It was called “spaghetti”, literally just spaghetti. And no we didn't eat pasta for Christmas. There was a wonderful Chef there from Portugal who prepared not only a beautiful but really delicious dinner for us.

Like I said this was my second Christmas in China. I first arrived here at the end of November 2015, so Christmas that year was super depressing for me. I was still new here, I didn't really know anyone apart from my work colleagues, who are Chinese so don't celebrate Christmas at all. So Christmas day, I had to go into work at 7am, which was a whole hour earlier than I usually do. Why? You may be asking? Didn't I just say it is a holiday for foreigners? ….*sigh* well, I was basically “forced” to come in to work, only for an hour that morning...to be Santa Claus....
I know right? Me? Frickin Santa Claus?! Firstly I'm a woman, Secondly I'm not even white 😂. 
my work colleague and I December 2015

Me as Santa December 2015



But I did it anyway, and I've got to admit it was an interesting experience, and definitely an unforgettable one for me. So yeah basically after that I went back to my hotel room, and just sat there, the whole day by myself. I just sat and cried for the rest of the day. I wouldn't answer any calls or talk to my parents on skype. I didn't even eat literally the whole day, because I felt really homesick and lonely. Which is something you really have to get used to sometimes, being in another country alone.

But praise God, here we are a year later and I have made some really amazing friends. So the Christmas that's just passed was awesome because of them. Wonderful food, wonderful company, It was a perfect day. And although there's not much of a Christmassy feeling here in Shenzhen, this time I made extra effort, to make everything around me Christmassy. I bought some really cute stuff from the Sun gang market to decorate my room with and I was watching Christmas movies non stop, and listening to Frank Sinatra and Michael Bublé's Christmas albums all the time. I even introduced the songs and movies to some of my Chinese friends. Just wanted to keep up with my usual Christmas traditions. My friend even got us Christmas crackers and mince pies from Hong Kong, because you cant find them here. But overall, my Christmas was amazing, mainly because I refused to let negativity and loneliness bring me down. Just because it's not Christmassy around me, doesn't mean I can't celebrate or be happy. And aslong as we are surrounded by our loved one, whether it's friends or family, is good enough. That is all that matters.















So I really hope that you found this post helpful.

Love 
Jen-jen
xoxo

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