Most of my friends kept asking me: “Do Chinese people celebrate Christmas at all?” Well, the answer is No, because they don’t consider this tradition as their own and they don’t celebrate it as Christians do, and YES because they try to follow, as they call it, Christmas “fashion”. I spent my Christmas here, in Huayuan, so I can’t say much about how the Chinese celebrate it in different provinces or big cities. However, I have some friends living in major cities such as Shanghai and Beijing and they told me they could feel Christmas atmosphere almost everywhere there. They could see signs of Christmas everywhere they looked. Many Chinese people decorated their houses with Christmas lights and trees, they cooked some special food and spent this time with their families and close friends. In Beijing, there was a big Christmas party held in the city centre.
But… how about Christmas here, in such a small town like Huayuan?
Next day, my phone rang and I was invited for a Christmas breakfast with English teachers, a lunch with a principal and some other members of school and a dinner with Kenneth and my boss. We had a lot of fun drinking some Chinese alcohol, eating delicious food and talking for hours. My students, of course, did well as well. There was a Christmas tree in almost each classroom and most of my students were wearing Christmas caps. I taught them a few Christmas songs such as Jingle Bells and Holy night, we watched some Christmas videos and had a Christmas party. We bought presents for each other so everyone was blissfully happy. On Sunday’s night, my students prepared some Christmas performances for the teachers. They were dancing, singing some songs and wishing us a Merry Christmas.
Did I miss home? Not that much. There was so much going on in the school so I had no time to miss my family. Of course, I spoke to my mom and my family on skype and wished them all the best for Christmas. I enjoyed Christmas here a lot. No pressure with cooking or cleaning, just chilling out and having fun. Lazy but wonderful time.
Thank you China!
A.
I have just uploaded some pictures taken during this special time. Hope you’ll enjoy it.
