On December 17, one week before Christmas Eve, I finally began Christmas shopping for my husband. The very patient sales clerk in the electronics store (what else do men want for Christmas?) asked me what type of XYZ he wanted.(Hubby may read the blog before Christmas day, and I don’t want to ruin the surprise.) I said that I wasn’t sure but that I’d go ahead and buy the ABC and let him come back later to choose the XYZ himself. She asked why I didn’t just let him come in and pick it out. “Because it’s a Christmas gift!” I cried.
So, no, the decorations in the large stores and restaurants do not reflect the reality. Christmas is not really celebrated in China except among Christians (around 1% of the population). The salesclerk, despite working in a mall decorated with fake greenery and tinsel, had not served even one customer who was buying an actual Christmas gift.
Back to the conversation….. The clerk, shocked, asked me, “But isn’t Christmas on Dec. 25th? Why are you buying it so early?”
A week early. I hardly knew what to say. How could I explain that waiting until a week before Christmas to buy your husband’s Christmas gifts is hardly advance planning. (It’s more akin to an insult toward your spouse to wait this long. Sorry, Hon, just got busy.) I answered her with the standard answer in these types of things, “It’s our custom.” It’s the kind of answer that can’t be argued with. Chinese people will almost always accept the “It’s our custom” answer with a knowing nod. Customs are not questioned.
This year I’ve not seen one Santa hat. It’s so strange. What happened to them? Even the paper Santa is wearing some sort of fedora instead of his red cone hat. In previous years, the red
Santa hats were everywhere. Odd. Unexplainable.
Here is one of the prettiest displays we found. I tried hard to find you something somewhat attractive.
But most things fall into the pitiful or tacky category, like this sad tree in the shoe store.
No, no nativities. It’s all Santa. But you will hear Joy to the World and Away in a Manger playing in the McDonalds and the large department stores. That always makes me smile to hear the songs — the true meaning of the holiday — in the midst of China.
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