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Written by Lochie Bowie
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Monday, 21 December 2009 14:32 |
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Merry Christmas Travellers & Fans! 圣诞节快乐, Shèng dàn kuài lè!
Whether your on the road or home with family and friends, My Journey would like to wish everyone everywhere a Merry Christmas and Super New Year!
 While December 25th is not a holiday in China, most shops in malls and shopping centres have Christmas trees and Christmas decorations out on display as early as mid November. Some of the decorations are so well liked, that they never get taken down; I've seen them hanging in restaurants at ALL times of the year!!
Christmas is new to the Chinese but they are loving it quickly as it becomes a popular shopping 'holiday' like a lot of the western holidays that are not traditionally celebrated here! Everywhere I go lately I can here Christmas carols played over loud speakers, all part of the Christmas 'show' to get everyone to buy, buy, buy! Alot of Christmas carols have even been translated into Mandarin... take for example Silent Night, or in Mandarin Píng ān yè, Peaceful (píng ān) Night (yè)!
While people are madly shopping in late December, its not for gifts! Gift giving is not a tradition closely followed by the Chinese, although apples have become a popular gift exchanged between students on and around the holiday. The Chinese word for apple is píng guǒ, which kinda of sounds like píng ān... at least the sound of the first syllable does! The act of giving the apples is therefore seen as giving a Christmas blessingl!
To add to this, apples are sold in the markets with the Chinese character fú on the side, which means good luck & happiness! The mark is created by placing a sticker of the character on the fruit when its ripening, clever huh!?
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