Christmas is the new, hot thing right now in China. Its presence, however, is really only felt in the centers of commerce. Local malls and stores invite their customers to enjoy a shiny, plastic Christmas in their homes, but we don't see much evidence from the street that this is happening--or at least happening in the way that we are used to. Twinkle lights are scarce, and the festive twinkles in eyes, and springs in steps, and "Merry Christmas!"-ing that we're used to enjoying from passers-by is non-existent (or is that really just the manic panic of getting everything done before the big day? "MerRY ChRIStMaS!" [twitch]). Malls here have invested in lovely holiday displays, and each time we go to our local Carrefour, our visit is accompanied by "Jingle Bells" played on a continuous loop ("Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleeee..."). Ah, Christmas in China. It's all packages, boxes, and bags, no dahoo dores. There is no antecedent, so the holiday hangs prettily in its plastic casing...meaningless. It's like when Americans try to celebrate Chinese New Year. So we're looking forward to some pretty serious festivizing come February.
BUT we had a great Christmas day! There was a wild, mad dash to the tree and a flurry of wrapping paper. When it settled, James let the boys open a few presents. We gorged on pancakes with strawberries (in season here somehow), played with new toys, took naps, then got cleaned up for a little get-together with new friends. It was a perfect day.
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