Merry Christmas

Well, Christmas has come and gone. Here it China, you would hardly realize it was Christmas. There were a few signs and a few Christmas decorations around the city, but it really is not celebrated here in China. I guess for us foreigners, it would seem like the Grinch did steal Christmas.

Above you see our Christmas tree. This tree comes with all the lights and everything needed. No need to decorate. All for 220 RMB ($32.12 US). Notice, no presents are under the tree. Also, due to the "financial crisis" we decided to spend very little for Christmas. I doubt if the lack of spending really affected the economy. No one else was really celebrating Christmas.

So many may ask, "What was Christmas like in China?". Well, Christmas Eve, we spent with a family from Mexico eating really good food. We had ceviche, curry chicken wings, and bacon and cheese sticks as our appetizers. For the main dish we ate salad, creamy spaghetti and roast beef. We drank some Coronas. It was a very nice Christmas Eve Dinner. Christmas was spent in our house just hanging out. There were no presents to open, no Santa to deliver gifts. We actually woke up a little late. We prepared for the evening get together with our friends here at the apartment complex. Each family brought a few dishes and we had a Christmas Dinner buffet. We would hold the buffet at the Club house. This place has no heat, so we keep our jackets on for dinner. After dinner we all went to my house to keep the festive spirit going.

The day after Christmas, we went to an electronics mall to purchase my sons Christmas gift. He wanted a better cell phone for Christmas. Well, he got his gift and was very happy.

All in all, Christmas really isn't an important event here in China. If it wasn't for the world recession and low production volumes, I would have worked Christmas as any other day of the year. Christmas Day actually felt just like any other day. I guess it was easy for the Grinch to steal our Christmas. We didn't feel the Christmas spirit, we didn't have any of our family to celebrate Christmas with, and we didn't have to buy many gifts at all!

The most important thing about Christmas was we were all together. No gifts needed!

I wish everyone who reads this blog post a very Merry Christmas. I hope you got to enjoy Christmas with family and friends.