China’s small population of Christians call Christmas Sheng Dan Jieh, or Holy Birth Festival. They decorate their homes with evergreen plants, posters, bright paper chains, and a Christmas tree, which they call a Tree of Light, adorned with paper lanterns, flowers, and red paper chains that symbolize happiness.
Does China give gifts at Christmas?
Since celebrating Christmas in China isn’t all too common, giving gifts is entirely up to you. During my time in China, I participated in Secret Santa’s with the foreign community and I gave Christmas gifts to my Chinese friends.
What are some Chinese traditions for Christmas?
Christmas in China: Some quirky traditions
- Gifting Apples. In the West, we associate Christmas with eating game meat or roast poultry. ...
- Santa Claus Plays the Saxophone. In Western countries people sing Christmas carols on the streets. ...
- Christmas in China is Similar to Valentine’s Day. ...
- Streets Full of People . ...
Where is the best place to buy Christmas decorations?
- We've rounded up the best places to find Christmas decorations in a range of styles and prices.
- You can add festive flair to every room in your home, from flannel sheets to merry table cloths.
- Target, Etsy, Pottery Barn, and others have Christmas decorations in practically every category.
What are some fun Christmas party ideas?
- Pin the Tail on Rudolph
- Spin the Egg Nog
- Bobbing for Stockings
- Musical Christmas Trees
When Is Chinese Christmas?
What is the Chinese tradition of Christmas?
What do Chinese people celebrate?
Why do people give apples to their loved ones?
What is the tradition of giving apples on Christmas?
Why is Christmas so slow in China?
Where do people hang stockings for Christmas?
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What are 3 Christmas traditions in China?
Christmas in China: Some quirky traditionsGifting Apples.Santa Claus Plays the Saxophone.Christmas in China is Similar to Valentine's Day.Streets Full of People.
What are 5 Christmas traditions in China?
Chinese Christmas TraditionsRomantic Holiday. While most American's celebrate family, Chinese young people celebrate with friends or their significant others. ... Giving of Gifts. ... Paper Ornaments and Tree of Lights. ... Saxophone Santa and His Sisters. ... Chinese Christmas Food. ... Apples for Christmas.
What gifts are given on Christmas in China?
9 Traditional Chinese GiftsChinese Knot. Chinese knots are a form of traditional handicraft art in China. ... Painted Chinese Chopsticks. No gift is better for the foodie lover than a beautiful set of authentic Chinese chopsticks. ... Flowering Tea Set. ... Jadeite Bangle. ... Lucky White Cat. ... Calligraphy Set. ... Bonsai Tree. ... Bubble Tea Kit.More items...•
Do Chinese have Christmas trees?
Only a few people have a Christmas Tree. If people do have a tree it is normally a plastic one and might be decorated with paper chains, paper flowers, and paper lanterns (they might also call it a tree of light). The Christmas Trees that most people would see would be in shopping malls.
What are Christmas symbols in China?
One of the most common Chinese Christmas traditions among young people is to send cellophane-wrapped apples as gifts to their friends. The apples are also often sold with printed messages like 'love', 'peace' and 'Merry Christmas'.
What does Christmas look like in China?
Western countries celebrate Christmas with family, but in China celebrations are like Valentine's Day. It's a lighthearted day for young people to go out with their significant others and celebrate with small gifts. They also hang out with friends to go out to a movie, karaoke bar, or go shopping.
What is a traditional Chinese gift?
Red envelopes with money Gifting money in red envelopes (红包 hóngbāo) is a very common practice in China, especially during the Chinese New Year, at weddings, and on birthdays. You generally want to gift shiny, crisp new bills in multiples of 100 and based on a lucky number (such as 200, 800 or 900).
Why do Chinese give apples on Christmas?
Apple is pronounced as “Ping Guo” in Chinese, and since the character “Ping” rhymes with “Peace” in Chinese, the fruit is related to Christmas Eve “Ping'anye” which is known as “peaceful night” in China. It is said that eating a peace apple on Christmas eve will bless you with a safe and peaceful year ahead.
Do the Chinese celebrate Xmas?
Though Christmas has been a big commercial success and a newly adopted festive tradition, most people in China do not celebrate as people do in the West.
How do China do Merry Christmas?
圣诞快乐! (shèng dàn kuài lè!) — Merry Christmas! 圣诞快乐 is definitely the go-to phrase to use when greeting someone during the holidays.
Can you hug a Tree in China?
Tree hugging is forbidden in China. Don't forget to show respect when greeting. While foreigners are expected to shake hands, the traditional form of greeting is the bow - the deeper you bow, the more respect you show.
What are 5 traditions in China?
These traditional festivals will really introduce you to life in China. There are annual events like Chinese New Year, the Lantern Festival, the Qingming (Tomb Sweeping) Festival, Double Seven Festival, and the Winter Solstice. The festivals introduced here have been selected for their traditional Chinese nature.
What are 5 Chinese New Year traditions?
Chinese New Year Traditionsputting up decorations,offering sacrifices to ancestors,eating reunion dinner with family on New Year's Eve,giving red envelopes and other gifts,firecrackers and fireworks, and.watching lion and dragon dances.
What are China's main traditions?
With a rich history of more than 5,000 years, China enjoys many traditional festivals that you may encounter on a trip to China such as the Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Day (Qingming Festival) to the Dragon Festival and Mid-autumn Day, each with its own significance and features.
What are Chinese holiday traditions?
Chinese Traditional Festivals List. pasting scrolls, the character 'Fu', and paper-cuts pictures, setting-off firecrackers and fireworks, paying New Year visits, and eating jiaozi. watching lanterns and fireworks, guessing lantern riddles, performing folk dances, and eating yuanxiao.
Use Hongbao for the Holidays
Hongbao, for those who don’t know, are the little Chinese red envelopes used to hold money usually given to the children in the family for Chinese New Year. But if you’re giving someone cash or a check for Christmas, you can make it even more memorable by slipping it into a hongbao.
Make a very Chinese Christmas dinner
Start with Chinese Winter Solstice. My husband calls this the “little Chinese New Year,” and in his region, people eat glutinous rice balls filled with sweet sesame paste, often called tangyuan (汤圆). So years ago, we made these tangyuan for Christmas Eve, and they were a huge hit ( see tangyuan recipes here ).
Make room for your ancestors
At Chinese New Year, the dearly deceased always have a place at the table. In my husband’s family, they give the ancestors a sampling of the evening’s feast, served before their photos, and before their graves. They also bow before them, and even burn incense at the graves.
What is the tradition of Christmas in China?
Christmas in China: 4 Unique Traditions. The Western holiday of Christmas is increasingly celebrated in China. Especially in the big cities, Santa is on the rise. Christmas in China shares many values with the Western celebration of Christmas. In the Chinese streets you will find Christmas trees, Santa Claus, reindeers and shopping sprees.
What does the Chinese word for Christmas Eve mean?
In the West, we associate Christmas with eating game meat or roast poultry. However, in China the apple plays a significant role during Christmas. To explain, the Chinese word for Christmas Eve is: “平安夜”, which, if directly translated, means ‘peaceful evening’. When pronounced the word for Christmas Eve is ‘Pinganye’, while the Chinese word for apple is pronounced ‘Pingguo’. Phonetically, these words are very similar. Thanks to this, the meaning of the apple has become that of a safe fruit, which has the magical effect of keeping and promoting peace.
How many apples do you need to buy a peace apple?
The most popular ones are that one needs to collect 24 apples from 24 people with different surnames, or 24 apples from 24 different places. Nowadays, people can just buy a peace apple, however they do not come cheap. During Christmas time in China it often costs more than 20 RMB to get a nicely wrapped peace apple.
Why are Christmas streets empty?
In Western countries on Christmas day the streets are empty, and shops are closed. This makes sense, because most people are visiting family or friends. On the contrary, in China the actual Christmas days are usually spent shopping, going out for dinner, singing karaoke, or by going to the movies.
Why does Santa play the sax in China?
The heritage of Santa playing the sax is unknown. Perhaps, it is because of the “cool Western” image the saxophone has in China . Another explanation is that Chinese people find Santa Claus running around with reindeer unrealistic.
Where did Christmas originate?
Because Christmas originated in the West, the celebration has a relative short history in China. In the short period of time, Chinese have developed their own way of celebrating Christmas. For example, Christmas in China does not include the family time element, however it includes the true Christmas-like atmosphere.
Is there a Christmas market in China?
It is even possible to find the occasional Christmas market in China. Especially, the Market in the German Embassy in Beijing is famous and well visited. Furthermore, many shops and businesses offer Christmas sales and discounts. Especially online, Christmas marks the beginning of a discount spree during the holiday season.
How do the Chinese celebrate Christmas?
What you see at Christmas in China will be largely influenced by where you are. While businesses in the urban areas of Mainland China have realised the potential sales boost of another holiday, rural Chinese are highly unlikely to know a great deal about the festival. With a young family in a city setting, you might find a plastic Christmas tree displayed, as well as a decorated home. But with no long standing, formal traditions related to Christmas, it tends to be a more casual affair than in many other places.
What is the Chinese tradition of Christmas?
Among the majority of the mainland Chinese population, one unusual tradition that's caught on is the giving of apples on Christmas Eve. That’s because the Chinese word used for Christmas Eve is 平安夜 - Ping'an Ye, literally ‘peaceful night’, from a translation of the carol Silent Night. However, the Chinese pronunciation sounds very much like the word for apple, which led to apples being the symbolic gift given for Christmas Eve. In keeping with much of the development of Christmas in China, this craze has been massively commercialised as well, so now apples can be bought with messages on the skin, wrapped in cellophane, and at hugely marked up prices.
What is Christmas in China?
Christmas in China is a hugely commercialised affair. People give gifts to friends and loved ones - but they also buy things for themselves during the period. Shops and malls, as well as online retailers, have deep discounts and encourage spending during this time of year.
How many people live in Shanghai?
Shanghai is the largest city on earth, with some 24 million inhabitants. It’s also home to the world’s busiest container port, and huge numbers of global...
Is Christmas a non-event in China?
So you might think that Christmas in China is something of a non-event. But you’d be wrong.
Do banks give the best deals?
If you need to move your money between accounts based in different countries, it’s worth knowing that banks often don’t give the best deal. Even if their service is advertised as free or cheap, banks and transfer services normally add a markup to the exchange rate to make sure that they make a profit. This cost isn’t always clearly set out, and that means you could be paying more than you should.
How much of the world's Christmas decorations are made by Yiwu?
Yiwu reportedly produces two-thirds of the world's Christmas decorations.
Where are the trains running on the Silk Road?
More recently, under President Xi Jinping 's Belt and Road initiative, which seeks to reinvigorate trade along the Ancient Silk Road, freight trains now run directly between Yiwu and Madrid, London and Prague, as well as Tehran. ABC News' Bob Woodruff tries on a reindeer antler headband in Yiwu, China.
Where is Bob Woodruff?
ABC News' Bob Woodruff tries on a reindeer antler headband in Yiwu, China. With 13,000 permanent foreign residents, according to the local government website, and numerous traders who travel back and forth between Yiwu and destinations mainly in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, the city is arguably becoming one ...
How big is the wholesale only market?
The market covers a sprawling 2 square miles, roughly the same size as 26 of Macy’s Herald Square flagship store in New York City.
Where do Christmas traders go?
In order to receive all the goods in time for holiday sales back home, Christmas traders from all around the world make yearly pilgrimages to the city months in advance. Their first stop is often the Yiwu International Trade Market.
Where is Yiwu made?
Yiwu is really where the whole “Made in China” phenomenon started. Just years into China 's “reform and opening” era in the early 1980s, the Yiwu Market had already taken shape. It was then that the city started to supply the world with all sorts of toys, ornaments, small home appliances, underwear, umbrellas and auto accessories.
Is Yiwu the real Santa?
But as the world's demand for Christmas decorations continues, Yiwu seems poised to be the real-world Santa’s workshop for the foreseeable future.
Eating an apple on Christmas Eve is a thing
It is tradition to eat a ‘Peace Apple’ on Christmas Eve. Peace Apple’s came about as a result of the meaning of Christmas Eve in Mandarin; it translates to ‘ping’an ye’. In English this means ‘peaceful night’. Ironically, the Mandarin for apple is ‘ping guo’ which has a similar pronunciation to ‘ping’an ye’.
Instead of elves, Santa has sisters
Everybody knows that Santa has helpers. Normally these helpers are called elves but in China, Santa has sisters. Santa and his sisters live in the Chinese North Pole in a fairytale Arctic Christmas Village.
In China, Santa Claus Plays the Sax!
In Mandarin, Santa Claus is ‘Sheng dan lao ren’. When translated to English, it literally means ‘Old Christmas Man’. A traditional Chinese Santa Claus plays the saxophone; a tradition that’s far from what we have here in the West.
Some Chinese are against Christmas
Because China has such a small Christian population of about 5% or roughly around 68 million people, Christmas isn’t necessarily a widely accepted and celebrated holiday. In fact, many nationalists are of the belief that Christmas poses a threat to the customs of traditions of China and may even be a tool of imperialism against its people.
When Is Chinese Christmas?
Christmas is celebrated in China on December 25 th each year. However, unlike America, it is typically a non-religious holiday. With only about 5% of the population Christian, according to the Pew Research Center, and the government cracking down on Christian religion and traditions, religious celebrations of the holiday are minimal. While there might be underground church services on Christmas eve and family gatherings on Christmas day, Christmas is a commercialized, non-national holiday by most. Rural and smaller villages might not even celebrate the holiday at all. Usually Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival, is the star of Chinese holidays.
What is the Chinese tradition of Christmas?
One of the most popular Chinese Christmas traditions is to hang beautiful paper lanterns indoors, outdoors, and strung around the plastic Christmas tree , which is called "Tree of Light". Families add paper chains and flowers in bright, festive colors to the Christmas tree.
What do Chinese people celebrate?
While most American's celebrate family, Chinese young people celebrate with friends or their significant others. They might choose to go out to a movie, karaoke or go shopping. Young couples make it a day for dating and celebrate by exchanging small gifts.
Why do people give apples to their loved ones?
Since the word for apple, pingguo, and Christmas Eve, ping'anye, sound similar in Mandarin, individuals might give an apple to their loved ones as a sign of Christmas and peace. They are also known as peace apples. Source.
What is the tradition of giving apples on Christmas?
Apples for Christmas. A fun and unique tradition in China is the giving of apples on Christmas. Much like Valentine's hearts, these apples are beautifully boxed and typically contain unique and fun sayings.
Why is Christmas so slow in China?
Because only a small percentage of China's population is Christian, Chinese society has been slow to adopt Christmas. However, Christmas decorations in stores and on streets are becoming a common site. Explore China's take on this fun, joyous holiday through looking at a few of its unique traditions.
Where do people hang stockings for Christmas?
Large cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong that take part in the Christmas festivities center the celebration around children. Children in China eagerly hang muslin stockings for Santa Claus (who they call "Dun Che Lao Ren" which means "Christmas Old Man"), to fill them at Christmas.
