A Christmas with the Browns in Beijing

Christmas has never been as popular in Beijing as it is today.

Walking the streets of China’s capital at this time 20 years ago, one would have been hard-pressed to find any evidence of its celebration in this mostly non-Christian city. The holiday was an extravagance, celebrated by a handful of foreigners and locals.

Signs of the Christmas holiday season, whether religious or secular can be seen everywhere from urban shopping malls to rural cafes, filling Beijing with a festive spirit and joy that continues right through to the traditional Spring and Lantern Festivals. The season begins with smiling Santa Clauses, colourful Christmas stockings, trees and slogans such as “Merry Christmas” showing up in nearly every corner of the city. Jingle Bells and Burl Ives’ Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer resound in the city’s shopping streets. As the season continues, the decorations build and build in anticipation of the Spring Festival with its colourful symbols, couplets and other decorations.

It is widely believed that the celebration of Christmas in China was brought to the country by people in the south who had been to Japan. There the season is a time for booming business. Now, many Chinese celebrate by decorating their homes with Christmas trees and ornaments, cooking and eating special foods (however, still traditional Chinese festival banquets rather than a traditional Western feast), and spending time with family and friends. For some, it’s a special time to spend with foreign guests before returning home during the Spring Festival to the privacy of their own families.

The celebration seems to augment China’s long-lived cultural traditions. In China, Christmas has exceeded its original religious connotation, and it has become a season of sharing, love and warmth, a time to be with family and friends.

Expatriates in Beijing, lured by China’s growth and the upcoming 2008 Olympic Games, are surely the biggest beneficiaries of this new holiday spirit, especially newcomers who are “lost in translation” and haunted by homesickness. Now, foreign residents can easily worship during the holidays. For fun, find a fresh live or gleaming artificial Christmas tree to decorate in dazzling lights and colour. Preparing a big Christmas dinner, especially with children’s favourite after-dinner desserts has never been easier, with stores now packed with foreign spices and ingredients, with international hotels offering dinner specials and with numerous bakeries and specialty shops opening every day.

But where do you start in putting your holiday celebration together? Here, BTM offers a helping hand. The editors have followed an American family, the Browns, who are going to spend their first Christmas in Beijing throughout their preparations for the grand festival. Their experience may help you solve problems. To this we’ve added some of BTM editors’ recommendations and information about Christmas decorations, presents and desserts, along with some information about church services.

If you want to escape Beijing’s winter chill over the holidays, we also recommend two ideal Christmas getaway destinations: Lijiang and Guilin. But no matter where you spend the festival, be happy and share with your family and friends!