Comment
Why Christmas is getting increasingly popular
By Luo Changai (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-25 10:51
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If you visit southern cities in China nowadays, you can feel an overwhelming Christmas atmosphere everywhere.
Santa toys are hanging from store windows; decorated Christmas trees are sparkling inside hotels and restaurants, and pedestrians are walking along the street with Santa toys in their hands.
Just imagine how excited kids will be when a smiling Santa knocks at the door and distributes gifts; and how romantic lovers will feel when they are receiving roses from each other.
It's not strange that the holiday is getting increasingly popular among young people.
Although some traditional Chinese festivals also have rich cultural traditions, they are too closely related to "eating".
For example, the presents of the spring festival are usually "preserved ham", and eating moon cakes is always the theme of the Mid-Autumn Festival. The winter solstice is a time to slaughter chickens and ducks.
However, more and more Chinese people, especially younger ones, have lost interest in food. In comparison, people may be more jealous of those young children who receive a gift they have always wanted during Christmas.
It is not necessarily a bad thing to celebrate a foreign festival, nor should we label it as "foreign worshipping". And we should not feel too nervous about our own "tacky" holidays.
With rising living standards, it's natural for people to seek more healthy lifestyles. As a country with a long history and brilliant culture, how can we make our traditional holidays most tasteful? How can we design elegant and practical gifts? And how can we create a healthier and more entertaining festival culture?
These things seem like trivial thoughts, yet they concern the development of the spiritual civilization.
(Excerpts of a commentary that appeared in xinhuanet.com on Dec 23.)
