Rusudan Jalaghonia – Christmas in China

       Hi, my name is Mulan and today I will be telling you about some traditions in China. Before I do, I need to tell you that Christmas is not a Christian holiday here.

       Christmas is celebrated the same as Valentines day. We spend the day with our friends and overall it is a lighthearted holiday.

        To your shock it is not a public holiday. Some families do not celebrate it, so you might have to go to work or to school. 

      My family celebrates it every year but I should probably tell you that in Hong Kong and Macau they celebrate it and people enjoy a two day public holiday.

 More often people give each other ‘Peace Apples’ wrapped beautifully. It is wrapped in cellophane. In Mandarin, Christmas Eve is sometimes translated as “Ping’an Ye” which literally means “Silent Night.”  Apple in Chinese is “Ping guo”, which sounds like peace, thus the gifting of apples. If you eat this apple, you will have peace and safety throughout the year.

A Christmas Surprise:

        On Christmas day my sister and I went  to a ‘Chinese Shadow Puppet Play’ and after that we were planning to give each other the presents we had bought for one another. There was one problem. I was not sure what to give her. I was thinking of getting her an apple wrapped in cellophane, and had high hopes that she would like it. 

        Later on, at the end of the day, It appeared that we both coincidentally gave each other the same present. We laughed a little  and then we went back home. 

Author: Rusudan Jalaghonia