Last night on Christmas Eve, 36-year-old Australian Simon
Pollock, a former journalist with Kyodo News in Beijing,
said he felt nothing special.
"I have noticed Christmas decorations on buildings, in shop
windows and even on the heads of restaurant waitresses," he said.
"However, it is just another day for me."
As far as the non-Christian is concerned, Christmas is a good
time for family reunion but has no significant meaning with his
family far away back in Australia.
Asked to pick one festival he feels worth celebrating in China,
Pollock without hesitation chose
Spring Festival, the most important traditional Chinese
festival.
"There are so many old and interesting activities, like temple
fairs, all providing a good chance to get to know about China and
Chinese people," he said.
In contrast, many young Chinese in Beijing have geared up for
something fancy and special during the week or so that has become
known as the Christmas holiday season.
Xu Meng, 26, an employee of an international software company,
chose to have a facial and began shopping a week ahead of a company
Christmas party Wednesday.
"Every woman in the company wants to be the most attractive at
the party, attended by almost everybody from the boss to the
interns," she said, smiling.
"Besides, to shop for dozens of people is no easy task."
Among many other ordinary people in Beijing, Christmas is
well-known.
Zhang Ming, a taxi driver in his 40s, said he is glad to have
more than one occasion to celebrate with his family, now that he
has a bigger wallet.
Others have observed some seemingly contradictory trends.
"The interesting phenomenon is that foreigners in Beijing are
more obsessed with local festivals, while Chinese celebrate foreign
festivals," said Zhang Xueyuan, a Beijing Municipal Statistics
Bureau official. "It indicates Beijing is on its way to being an
international metropolis."
Yu Wenkai, general manager of Wuxi Compressor Co Ltd in Nanjing,
capital of east China's Jiangsu
Province, thought the younger generation likes Christmas mainly
because of curiosity and counterculture psychology.
"And shops, restaurants and recreational places have done a lot to
build up the Christmas atmosphere," Yu said, noting one can't
travel any place without hearing Christmas carols or seeing the
images of Santa Claus pushing merchandise.
Although it might have much to do with Spring Festival following
in usually no more than two months, Zhang said Christmas has become
one of the most important profit seasons in Chinese cities.
According to the National Bureau of
Statistics, the retail turnover last December was 18 percent
more than that of the previous month and amounted to 440.4 billion
yuan (US$53.2 billion).
Zhu Ziyi, vice president with the China Performing Arts Agency,
admitted that the agency waited especially until the middle of
December to stage its Reverie, a ground-breaking
acrobatics spectacular.
"We know people are willing to pay for recreation, especially
expensive performing masterpieces, around Christmas, the start of
the Festival Season (Christmas is always followed by New Year's Day
and Spring Festival)," he said.
(China Daily December 25, 2003)?
