Matt did a great job
presenting the oddities of Shanghai-style Christmas. But as much as we enjoyed laughing over the silly miscues of
the Chinese attempting to adopt Western holiday traditions, it only served to
remind us that we were not at
“home”. The absence of snow,
our families, and a work holiday made it tough for us to embrace the Christmas spirit.
Luckily, a visit from Sarah (Val’s best friend from NYC) gave us a reason to celebrate and decorate. New stockings (handmade by Matt’s mom)
meant the beginning of some new family traditions. We found a place in Shanghai (the Ritz) that actually
did justice to a real Western Christmas Tree. And our own little potted tree wasn’t so shabby once it was
trimmed and surrounded by presents.
(photos courtesy of Sarah)
the Ritz Carlton beauty
our own tree, with presents (including a suitcase-full from Sarah!)
Don’t believe what you’ve
heard about Communism in China. Sure,
the government makes centralized decisions, but the country is full of 1.3
billion – or 1.5 billion, depending on what you believe – raging capitalists.
As such, the Chinese have
gone nuts for Christmas, recognizing that it’s – for better or worse – a
commercial bonanza more than a Christian holiday.
Accordingly, Shanghai is
blanketed in Santa pictures and gaudy decorations.What’s funny is when the decorations are just slightly off, not quite what we'd see back home.
Take this kids t-shirt, for example
– “Pretty Christmas”?
Or this stencil, which was
plastered all over a local mall. “Merry Christmas 2012.”
My favorite twist, however,
is the Chinese take on the Christmas tree.
When we went to get our
1.7-meter Charlie Brown tree from the expat florist, it hadn’t been cut out of
the ground like in America.Instead, they dug it up with a shovel and wrapped a plastic bag around the roots. For a couple hundred RMB, we were headed home with a tree, giant pot, and two bags of dirt.
This is actually pretty
neat.Trees are plants, right -- so
why not put them in a pot for December, re-plant them outside from Jan-Nov, then re-use the same tree for multiple years?
