Christmas in China
As I entered the church courtyard I glanced to the left. There, in the gateroom, sat 5 or 10 policemen. What were they doing here at the church? It was Christmas Eve, 1985, and it was the first time I had been in a Chinese Church, even though I had been in China for one year now. I had been attending the international service held in English at either the American or British Embassy. Sundays were the one time I could meet with expatriat friends, fellowship with them and have a hamburger at the Jianguo Hotel. Chinese were not allowed to attend the services held in the embassies, and I didn't understand Chinese. But I, like many non-Christian Chinese, felt like Christmas Eve was a good time to go to a Chinese Christian church.
Santa on a billboard at the Jinjiang Hotel
I and one of my students arrived early, but there weren't many seats left. We sat down and waited. Quickly all the seats were filled. People still surged in and stood in the aisles. Soon the crowd had filled the aisles and were even crowded around outside the church entrance. I then understood the function of the police -- crowd control. Surprisingly, there was no preaching and no reading from the Bible. What I do remember is a lot of singing and playing of instrumental pieces. There was no heat in the church; several years later I attended another church in Beijing, and that one had a stove placed in the middle of the church -- the only church I attended in China with heat (and yes it does get cold there in winter).
Christmas at Jingling Church
1985-86 I was in Shanghai. I started attending the service for foreigners held in the Jinjiang Hotel. Most of those who attended were foreign students or teachers, although a few businessmen and their families also attended. Then, one day I went with another American teacher to a church called Jingling Church. I was now making some progress with Chinese, and I started attending that church regularly. At Christmastime the church held three evening Christmas services. Attendance was by ticket only (a free ticket, however). I realized the necessity of the tickets when I showed up at the church. Just like at a football game, people without tickets were milling around outside, hoping to find someone with extra tickets. To get into the church, I had to pass through a narrow iron gate which allowed only one person to enter at a time. The church, as it was every Sunday, was packed.
Christmas 1987 found me again in Beijing, but this time at the CAAC Management Institute. CAAC was the national airline of China, so my students were pilots, navigators, stewardesses, maintenance people, etc. I was the only foreigner at the airport, where the school was located. But many of my students, like those at other schools, gave me Christmas cards. I usually accumulated 30 or so and put them up on a door. Christmas cards aren't hard to find in China and are sometimes very beautiful. I suspect that many non-Christians also send cards to each other, although most are sent for the new year. As at most of the other schools, my school gave me a Christmas tree -- a live tree, growing from a big porcelain pot at the base and weighing about 300 pounds or so. It must have taken several husky men to haul this one up to my fourth floor apartment. My school also sponsored a Christmas party for me where I sat at the place of honor, next to the school's Communist Party Secretary
Christmas 1989 was spent in Nanjing. Nanjing is where the national office of the Chinese Protestant Three-Self Church (the only officially-recognized protestant church in China) is located. At Christmas the head of the Church, Bishop K. H. Ting. (Click here to read a recent speech by Bishop Ting), invited the local foreign teachers to his house for a tea party. I also attended a big Christmas dinner with other foreign teachers.
About half the time I attended a Chinese Church; the rest of the time I attended a service held for foreigners in English at St Peter's Church, a 45-minute bike ride from my school. For Christmas several of us sang.
The picture opposite shows a scene at the Christmas service in Yangzhou, 1990. I didn't attend the service. Why? Because you needed to get to church several hours in advance to get a seat. (And don't forget, the churches are not heated.) One friend of mine, a girl who sang in the choir, was unable to sing for the Christmas service because she couldn't get in the church.
So, yes, Christmas in China is different, but for many people, it's a very important time of the year.
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