So what’s Christmas like in a city that doesn’t commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ?
Well, for one, the Christmas decorations are only more presentable at places frequented by laowais (foreigners), such as Xintiandi and City Plaza.
In recent years, it has been debated whether Chinese cities like Shanghai and Beijing should even exhibit anything related to Christmas, since communism is in direct conflict with religion, and Christmas is, afterall, a religious holiday. Advocates see Chinese celebrating Christmas as idolization of the West, thereby eroding its own culture and traditions, and greatly disapprove. Nevertheless, Christmas sales, dinners, and parties are great for retailers and restauranteurs alike, so it seems that Christmas has come to stay. Afterall, with the influx of foreigners to Shanghai, greater effort has been placed on creating a home away from home by putting up Christmas signages and decorative lights.
But of course there are also the Christmas decorations that #fail:
If watching live performances, buying memorabilia or bringing your kids to ice-skate in the open is your cup of tea, the Christmas market by Wending Living Style Plaza might be up your alley. I found it pretty quiet when I went around 5pm on Christmas day, so I’m presuming, optimistically, that it was just that I was too early for the jolliness that occurs every evening till the end of this month.
On Christmas day itself, Xintiandi was unsurprisingly packed with foreigners and locals wanting to be part of the strong festive mood concentrated in a place where the ratio of foreigners to locals are somewhere around 5:1. Feeling like you need a dosage of Christmas festivity? Xintiandi might be your best bet.
Then walk down Huaihai Road for streets lined with decorations that would probably work for the upcoming Chinese New Year as well. What’s with the lanterns?!
*Note: Christmas day is not a public holiday in Shanghai/China.
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