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
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,
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 😂.
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| my work colleague and I December 2015 |
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| 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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