Christmas in China
It’s almost Christmas! My favorite time of the year!
Christmas music, warm vanilla scents, twinkling lights, decorations, sweet hot cocoa, family time, Christmas programs at church, and red and green fuzzy scarves are all hints that this special time is upon us. At least they were… until I moved to China five and a half years ago.
Did you know that Christmas is not really celebrated in China? In recent years, some of the hints of the Christmas season that I mentioned above have started to pop up, but only commercially. Some shopping malls will be decorated for Christmas and play Christmas pop music. Additionally, some children will get gifts from their parents. But other than that, Christmas just seems to be another day here. People don’t dress in red and green, they work on Christmas day, and children go to school just as if it were any other school day.
At the school I work at, we are not allowed to celebrate “foreign” holidays. At all. All expat teachers are given Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off from work, but the local teachers and students all still have to come in to school as usual.
These changes were very hard to get used to!
Before I came to live in China, I lived in the US during my college years, and before that, I lived in Chile where my parents are missionaries until I was 18. In both countries, Christmas was a big deal! And we were openly able to have Christmas activities, worship, etc. Here in China, not so much.
But thankfully, God’s presence in our lives and hearts and the fact that He came to this earth as a little baby so long ago do not depend on our outside circumstances or whether or not Christmas is “celebrated.” We can still celebrate HIM!
So how do I celebrate Christmas here in China? So glad you asked.
There is a giant international community here in Shanghai who DOES celebrate Christmas. So there are plenty of foreign Christmas markets that pop up full of wonderful Christmas goodies. There, you can find anything from cookies to candles to stockings to homemade eggnog.
My first 3 years in China, I was a part of Christmas caroling group that sang at a Christian brother’s restaurant every weekend leading up to Christmas. It was such a joyful time, and it helped us dwell on Jesus and lift each other up.
My church always has a special Christmas Eve service! We get to worship by singing Christmas hymns, meditate on Jesus’ coming, and end the night by sharing Christmas cookies together!
On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I either celebrate Christmas in my home with close friends or at somebody else’s house. Having a “family” Christmas is so special to me! Yes, I do miss my family (especially during this season), but having friends and church people that I can call my second family has been such a blessing!
I like to use the Christmas season as an opportunity to talk about the meaning of Christmas with my non-believing friends, coworkers, and students and pray that God stirs their hearts for Him!
It’s amazing that, as Christians, we can celebrate and worship Jesus wherever in the world we are because He lives in our hearts, and we are unified in this! So today, I choose to wear the Christmas colors, light the warm vanilla scented candles in my home, turn on the twinkle lights, gather with close Christian friends, and listen to the Christmas hymns on my headphones at school. I can still celebrate Jesus!
Merry Christmas!
