{"id":7254,"date":"2016-12-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-19T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teachingnomad.com\/teaching-abroad\/5-ways-the-chinese-do-christmas-slightly-differently\/"},"modified":"2024-12-11T12:55:34","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T19:55:34","slug":"5-ways-the-chinese-do-christmas-slightly-differently","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teachingnomad.com\/blog\/teaching-abroad\/5-ways-the-chinese-do-christmas-slightly-differently\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways the Chinese do Christmas slightly differently"},"content":{"rendered":"

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‘Shen Dan Lao Ren<\/a>‘ is coming to town. Christmas is a wonderful celebratory time of year, however in mainland China it is not even a public holiday. This explains why twenty years ago you probably wouldn’t have seen any signs of Christmas around here. Merrily, in today\u2019s China you will see, hear and feel the Chinese Christmas spirit almost everywhere around you.<\/p>\n

\"shengdanshu2\"<\/p>\n

1. Lighting up the Christmas tree<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Few people have a Christmas tree, and if they do it is normally a plastic one they call “a tree of light”. The Christmas trees most people see are those displayed in big shopping malls! The strange thing is that most of the world’s plastic Christmas trees and Christmas decorations are made in China, but the people making them have no idea what they are for!
Participate in local festivals (like Hong Kong’s Ta Chiu festival<\/a>), which happen in many parts of China.<\/p>\n

\"shengdanguo3\"<\/p>\n

2. Apple Night<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A tradition that’s becoming popular, on Christmas Eve, is giving apples. Many stores have apples wrapped up in coloured paper for sale. People give apples on Christmas Eve because in Chinese Christmas Eve is called “Ping’an Ye” (\u5e73\u5b89\u591c), meaning peaceful or quiet evening, which has been translated from the carol ‘Silent Night’. The word for apple in Mandarin is “p\u00ednggu\u01d2” (\u82f9\u679c) which sounds like the word for peace.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. Santa\u2019s list
<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Christmas comes with the annual headache: what gifts to buy? In China, Santa\u2019s job is a little easier because it is not unusual to give friends and relatives red envelopes, containing lucky money, as a gift for Christmas. Exchanging Christmas cards or small, inexpensive gifts with close friends and family is also common.
\"nv5\"
Chinese interpretation of Mother Mary with Baby Jesus.<\/p>\n

4. Creative Cristians<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The small number of Christians in China call Christmas Sheng Dan Jie, which means Holy Birth Festival. They decorate their homes with evergreens, posters, and bright paper chains. The family puts up a Christmas tree, and decorates it with beautiful lanterns, flowers, and red paper chains that symbolize happiness. They cut out red pagodas to paste on the windows, and they light their houses with paper lanterns, too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. Celebrating at McDonald’s<\/strong><\/h2>\n

For many young people, Christmas is an opportunity to get together with friends and have Christmas parties. These might be held at a friend’s house, McDonald’s, KTV, restaurant, or bar. There’s a festive atmosphere, and people enjoy the decorations and Christmas carols. Many young couples view Christmas as a romantic holiday and some choose to celebrate the occasion with a happy meal at McDonald’s.<\/p>\n

\"xiongmao\"
Rudolph the red-noised \u2026 Panda?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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‘Shen Dan Lao Ren<\/a>‘ is coming to town. Christmas is a wonderful celebratory time of year, however in mainland China it is not even a public holiday. This explains why twenty years ago you probably wouldn’t have seen any signs of Christmas around here. Merrily, in today\u2019s China you will see, hear and feel the Chinese Christmas spirit almost everywhere around you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7255,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"'Shen Dan Lao Ren<\/a>' is coming to town. Christmas is a wonderful celebratory time of year, however in mainland China it is not even a public holiday. This explains why twenty years ago you probably wouldn't have seen any signs of Christmas around here. Merrily, in today\u2019s China you will see, hear and feel the Chinese Christmas spirit almost everywhere around you.\n\n\"shengdanshu2\"\n\n1. Lighting up the Christmas tree.<\/strong>\nFew people have a Christmas tree, and if they do it is normally a plastic one they call \"a tree of light\". The Christmas trees most people see are those displayed in big shopping malls! The strange thing is that most of the world's plastic Christmas trees and Christmas decorations are made in China, but the people making them have no idea what they are for!\nParticipate in local festivals (like Hong Kong's Ta Chiu festival<\/a>), which happen in many parts of China.\n\n\"shengdanguo3\"\n\n2. Apple Night<\/strong>\nA tradition that's becoming popular, on Christmas Eve, is giving apples. Many stores have apples wrapped up in coloured paper for sale. People give apples on Christmas Eve because in Chinese Christmas Eve is called \"Ping'an Ye\" (\u5e73\u5b89\u591c), meaning peaceful or quiet evening, which has been translated from the carol 'Silent Night'. The word for apple in Mandarin is \"p\u00ednggu\u01d2\" (\u82f9\u679c) which sounds like the word for peace.\n\n3. Santa\u2019s list<\/strong>\nChristmas comes with the annual headache: what gifts to buy? In China, Santa\u2019s job is a little easier because it is not unusual to give friends and relatives red envelopes, containing lucky money, as a gift for Christmas. Exchanging Christmas cards or small, inexpensive gifts with close friends and family is also common.\n\"nv5\"\nChinese interpretation of Mother Mary with Baby Jesus.\n\n4. Creative Cristians<\/strong>\nThe small number of Christians in China call Christmas Sheng Dan Jie, which means Holy Birth Festival. They decorate their homes with evergreens, posters, and bright paper chains. The family puts up a Christmas tree, and decorates it with beautiful lanterns, flowers, and red paper chains that symbolize happiness. They cut out red pagodas to paste on the windows, and they light their houses with paper lanterns, too.\n\n5. Celebrating at McDonald's<\/strong>\nFor many young people, Christmas is an opportunity to get together with friends and have Christmas parties. These might be held at a friend's house, McDonald's, KTV, restaurant, or bar. There's a festive atmosphere, and people enjoy the decorations and Christmas carols. Many young couples view Christmas as a romantic holiday and some choose to celebrate the occasion with a happy meal at McDonald's.\n\n\"xiongmao\"\nRudolph the red-noised \u2026 Panda?\n\nAbout our company: Teaching Nomad is an American owned and operated education recruitment company based in Shanghai, China. Our goal and purpose is to help great teachers find great teaching jobs. Year round, we have hundreds of teaching job vacancies. Whether your goal is to be an ESL teacher or teach in an international school, we have a teaching job for you. You can browse jobs online at www.teachingnomad.com\/job-search for the latest job openings. Teaching Nomad is here to make teaching in China easier, so please feel free to reach out and contact us with any questions or inquiries!<\/em>","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n5 Ways the Chinese do Christmas slightly differently - Teaching Nomad<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Get ready to experience Chinese Christmas traditions! 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