China's Christmas Cheer
(During my vacation, I've gone into the China Connection archive to post some of my more popular and seasonally-appropriate blogs. This one was published last Christmas Eve, 2007. Have a wonderful Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!)
When you walk down the streets of any major Chinese city in December, it's hard to believe that you're in an officially atheist country. Christmas decorations galore abound, putting some U.S. cities to shame, and the signs you see aren't generic "Happy Holidays," they're "Merry Christmas."
Last year, during a time when many Christians and conservative pundits were speaking out against the "War on Christmas" a large nativity scene was prominently displayed in a busy Beijing shopping center, without apologies to the atheists, Buddhists, or any other religious follower who might be casually passing through.
You can still see various religious Christian symbols, or hear religious Christmas carols, but the vast majority of the decorations and celebrations are secular in nature. If you ask the typical Chinese young person on the street how they celebrate Christmas, getting together and going out with friends, buying presents, and just having a good time are the most popular answers.
For some Chinese, Christmas will always have a stigma of being a strictly Western holiday. At the same time, many who don't feel a personal connection to Christmas still enjoy the lights and festivities.
But the rise of Christmas in China also brings up another issue: is Christmas just another fun holiday, or does the popularity of Western holidays negatively influence Chinese traditions?
Some would say that Christmas could cause the erosion of Chinese culture, but most disagree. Christmas celebrations aren't picking up where the Cultural Revolution left off, on a mission to dilute remaining traditions. Rather than competing with the Spring Festival and other traditional days, Christmas can serve as another celebration.
The general consensus is that as long as Christmas doesn't detract from Chinese holidays, the more, the merrier! Since Christmas doesn't overlap with Spring Festival, it can be a welcome excuse for more parties and festivities. In the same way that Thanksgiving kicks off the holiday season in the U.S., Christmas can usher in the New Year in China.
Oddly enough, the popularity of Chinese Christmas is almost its own badge of honor- a symbol that China has truly immersed itself within the international community, and has made this day its own. In the same way that fortune cookies have become associated with China, even though they originated in San Francisco, there are already special Christmas stars and cartoons that Chinese children will probably associate with a Western holiday, even though you'd never see them outside of China. Even Santa, with all of his red, is a natural fit into Chinese culture.
But for the religious faithful, is a watered-down secular celebration in any way a sacrilege of one of their holiest days? In the U.S., we hear cries of "keeping the CHRIST in Christmas" or remembering the "reason for the season," but with commercial activity and that focus, you wonder if most people are really listening.
Recent crackdowns and arrests of religious believers are poignant reminders that China's Christians don't enjoy the same type of unrestricted religious freedom as many in other countries, making Christmas an instrumental opportunity for them to talk about their faith.
China's obviously not a country with churches in every strip mall, or Christian bookstores almost as plentiful as Starbucks, so nearly any incarnation of Christmas offers an opportunity to talk about Christianity or Christ. Some young Christians give Bibles to their non-Christian friends and family, whereas others use the day to invite their friends to church.
Ironically enough, the secular acceptance of Christmas throughout China might actually provide a more promising opportunity for China's Christians to introduce their friends to the true meaning of Christmas.