The small number of Christians in China call Christmas Sheng Dan Jieh, which means Holy Birth Festival. They decorate their homes with evergreens, posters, and bright paper chains.
In China, Santa is known as 'Sheng dan lao ren' (Traditional: 聖誕老人, Simplified: 圣诞老人; means Old Christmas Man).
Western countries celebrate Christmas with family, but in China celebrations are like Valentine's Day. It's a lighthearted day for young people to go out with their significant others and celebrate with small gifts. They also hang out with friends to go out to a movie, karaoke bar, or go shopping.
Though Christmas has been a big commercial success and a newly adopted festive tradition, most people in China do not celebrate as people do in the West. Like many foreign customs that China has absorbed and adapted over the centuries, Christmas also has developed its unique Chinese flair in China.
It is not common in a Chinese household to have Christmas trees or decorations, but outside, especially in big cities, extravagant Christmas trees, lights and decorations will be set out on the streets, in the hotels and department stores.
Interestingly enough, while Christmas is considered a Western Christian holiday, Asia countries have long taken to the festivities too. In fact, many celebrate much like in the West, with family gathered around with a meal to share, while in some countries they've made some traditions of their own.
Millions of people around the world celebrate this festival on the night of 31 December to 1 January. China began celebrating New Year only in the XX century, when the Communist Party of China (CPC) rose to power. 1st January in China is a public holiday.
(shèng dàn kuài lè!) — Merry Christmas! 圣诞快乐 is definitely the go-to phrase to use when greeting someone during the holidays. Quite literally, it means “Christmas happy.” The extended version of this phrase is 圣诞节快乐 (shèng dàn jié kuài lè), which simply adds 节 (jié), meaning “holiday,” into the equation.
Holiday Traditions of China
They decorate their homes with evergreen plants, posters, bright paper chains, and a Christmas tree, which they call a Tree of Light, adorned with paper lanterns, flowers, and red paper chains that symbolize happiness.
It is said that eating a peace apple on Christmas eve will bless you with a safe and peaceful year ahead. This tradition of gifting peace apples or “Ping'anguo” on Christmas Eve has become so popular in China that the price of apples rises every December 24.
It's always a very merry Kentucky Christmas in Japan. Every year, millions of families make a beeline for the nearest KFC in Japan and order bucketloads of fried chicken. Children reach in for the best piece of the lot, commemorating what they know to be the most natural tradition–a KFC dinner for Christmas.
Chinese New Year is the biggest holiday in China. Chinese people have seven days off, and some may have 15 days off.
Zhōngguó (中國) is the most common Chinese name for China in modern times.
used in writing or sometimes spoken to represent the sound of laughter. （表示笑声）呵呵
In Japan Santa is known as サンタさん、サンタクロース / Santa-san (Mr Santa) or サンタクロース / Santa-Kurosu (Santa Claus). (Another Japanese gift bringer is Hoteiosho, a Japanese god of good fortune from Buddhism.
National surveys conducted in the early 21st century estimated that some 80% of the population of China, which is more than a billion people, practice some kind of Chinese folk religion; 13–16% are Buddhists; 10% are Taoist; 2.53% are Christians; and 0.83% are Muslims.
Rules For A Chinese Christmas Exchange
Whomever chooses #1, goes first. Selecting gifts – #1 may select any of the unwrapped gifts. Whomever selected #2 can either take the opened gift or unwrap another gift. If the guest takes #1's gift, then #1 gets to select another gift from the pile.
Over the past four decades, Christianity has grown faster in China than anywhere else in the world. Daryl Ireland, a Boston University School of Theology research assistant professor of mission, estimates that the Christian community there has grown from 1 million to 100 million.
Santa is known as 'Sheng dan Lao ren' in Mandarin, which translates as 'Christmas Old Man', and he is seen as a non-religious figure who lives in a fairytale Arctic Christmas Village in China's North Pole.
Christmas is the equivalent of Valentine's Day in China
For the younger population, the Christmas season is a time for them to spend with their significant other. They exchange gifts, go on romantic walks to take in the beautiful decorations, or go on dates.
圣诞节快乐 – shèng dàn jié kuài lè – Merry Christmas
This is the most common Christmas greeting in Chinese which when put together means 'festival of the holy birth'. The compnents are made up as: 圣 – sheng – saint. 诞 – dàn – birth.
To distinguish between "international" New Year (January 1) and Chinese New Year, instead of using 'New Year' (新年, usually meaning CNY in China), Chinese call January 1 'first dawn' (元旦) and Chinese New Year 'Spring Festival' (春节).
New Year's Eve, Chuxi (Traditional Chinese: 除夕, Pinyin: chúxī, Traditional Chinese: abbr. for 年除夕, Pinyin: niánchúxī, literally translated: year- get rid of- evening)
China's Lunar New Year is known as the Spring Festival or Chūnjié in Mandarin, while Koreans call it Seollal and Vietnamese refer to it as Tết. Tied to the lunar calendar, the holiday began as a time for feasting and to honor household and heavenly deities, as well as ancestors.