‘seasonal greetings’ from shanghai
The city was Shanghai. The street was Tibet Lu. The song was “Frosty the Snowman.”
The reaction was a shrug.
Nothing here surprises me anymore. Not even the fact that the most populous city in the world’s most atheist country seems to be so jazzed about the birth of Jesus Christ. Not even the fact that a street named after an autonomous region brimming with Buddhists was rocking out to a song about a jolly, happy — and very likely Christian — man made out of snow.
From its main commercial streets to its schools and universities to its out-of-the way teahouses that rarely see a foreign customer, Shanghai has soaked itself in Christmas spirit as if it were cheap perfume. But Jesus’ name is nowhere on the label. China has taken the “Christ” out of Christmas.
And so we are left with more. More red lights, more green lights — I’d hate to see the electric bill for this city — and some of the scariest Santas this side of the Ural Mountains.
On the surface at least, Shanghai appears more Christmas crazy than any place I’ve lived in America recently. And at first, it hit me like a lump of coal. When I moved here, I was expecting a communist Christmas, which I thought meant no Christmas at all.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. We teachers at Shanghai University even got to ditch classes on Dec. 25. (“Only if you are Christian,” the administration clarified.)
I saw my first Santa back in September. A teahouse near where I live had a couple on the wall. I just took it as a curious quirk. Now, I’m not convinced they ever take their Christmas decorations down.
In October, I spotted Santa at the campus coffee shop — which, strangely, is called “Kiss Baby.” I asked my Chinese companions two questions: Why do I keep seeing Santa in Shanghai? and Why do I keep seeing Santa before the leaves have changed?
“Maybe they just like the way he looks,” was the answer I got.
Maybe, I thought, and soon forgot about it again. But then November came, and I started seeing Christmas cards for sale in stores. Some were in Chinese, and those that weren’t obviously were at one point. “Wishing you a Merry Christmas — with extra Merry” was one of my favorites. “Your very first steps down the path of your dream that leads to a happy fulfilled Christmas” wasn’t bad, either.
In December, I knew festivities were afoot. My students started opening Christmas cards in class. Downtown, the city began taking on a holiday hue, gaudy and grandiose like only Shanghai — and maybe, say, Helen, Ga. — can do.
These days, almost anything from the other side of the Pacific is popular in China. The country already has KFC, McDonald’s and the Backstreet Boys. Christmas, I suppose, was the next logical step.
Like most things American, Christmas is catching on more quickly with Shanghai’s younger set … and, of course, its businesses, which care much less about religion than they do the ring of the cash register.
Not surprisingly, there are some Chinese traditionalists — likely many more than is outwardly apparent — none too pleased with all of this holiday cheer. Perhaps they get pissed off when they peer inside a storefront and see Santa standing buddy-buddy with Buddha. I don’t really blame them.
But Shanghai, most here will tell you, is a city eager for anything new and different. And Christian holidays are definitely new and different. For many, it’s a novelty, an excuse for a party.
People set their mobile phone ringers to “Jingle Bells.” Cabbies hum along to Christmas songs they don’t understand.
The night before Christmas, every creature was stirring in Shanghai … yes, even the mice. Huai Hai Lu was flooded with people with smiles on their faces and images of Christmas lights dancing in their eyes. I actually got turned away from a restaurant on Christmas Eve because it was packed too full with partiers.
Somebody told me it snowed on Christmas Day, but I didn’t see it. Maybe it was just some white fluff floating off of my Santa hat — an ornament that earned me more odd stares than usual.
That night, I ate a turkey dinner at an Irish pub in an old French villa. Yes, I was still in China. And yes, many of the other customers eating Christmas dinner were Chinese, all of them wearing the Santa hats that came free with the meal.
I’m not sure how to explain it. Maybe China just likes Christmas because of all the red.
12.30.2002, 7:32 AM · Observations