But don’t take it too far, people of China! Western influences are all too easily corrupting.
Christmas trees are making a “cautious comeback at shopping malls in China,” Radio Free Asia reports (December 26, 2024).
“This year’s atmosphere is one of the best in recent years,” a Shanghai resident who gave only the surname Sun for fear of reprisals told RFA Mandarin in a recent interview. “Xintiandi [a fashionable street in Shanghai] and other places have a lot of Christmas decorations, so we went to see them.”…
The apparent relaxation comes after several years of a nationwide crackdown by ruling Communist Party on Christian worship, as well as public Christmas decorations and events.
Meanwhile, though, the Chinese Communist Party crackdown on Christianity—and other religions—continues unabated.
Christian churches as regulated by the Party are required to support it and to incorporate Party ideology into their services. CCP mandates include “hanging of portraits of Xi Jinping in churches” and “a ban on Christmas celebrations and enforced demolition work at major mosques and churches to remove domes and crosses.”
The current liberality about Christmas-season flourishes has its limits.
“We used to see a lot of posts about boycotting foreign festivals around this time of year…. But suddenly nobody cares about this any more,” a resident of Guangzhou who gave only the surname Wu for fear of reprisals told RFA Mandarin.
Obviously, somebody cares, or the residents surnamed Wu and Sun would not be fearing reprisals.
Also:
The authorities are still cracking down on Christmas among children and young people, however.
Authorities at a secondary school in the central province of Hubei sent out a pledge to students warning them off the practice.
“Please don’t send me greetings on Western holidays,” the pledge said. “I’m not Christian; I’m Chinese. I’m not a citizen of the West, so why should I celebrate Western holidays?”
Well, Merry Christmas anyway, kids.
