Western Holidays + Birthdays in China From an American Perspective
Most people in China do not celebrate any western holidays. China has its own long list of important holidays and when it comes to western holidays, not really much goes on for most people.
The younger generations enjoy celebrating western holidays, although still most don’t. The only locals that celebrate western holidays are those that have constant contact with westerners. This, of course, all makes sense; think about it the other way around – how many people in America (or any other western country for that matter) celebrate even Chinese New Year? The Chinese are pretty lucky, they get to celebrate the new year twice – once for the solar calendar (our calendar), then again for the lunar one (CNY)!
(Solar) New Year
China and much of the Asian world are on the Lunar calendar, which means that their months and years are based on the moon not the sun. The dates are different by a few months, meaning that their new year actually happens closer to spring, or mid February (most of the time, it changes every year) on the solar calendar.
Actually, everyone in China also celebrates the solar new year. They get days off of work and go out and party almost identically to people from western countries. It’s actually really fun to be in China around any new year, as Chinese people love fireworks (although sometimes it gets a little out of hand). Even around the solar new year, almost everyone in the city is out and having fun. Big city life at its best.
Christmas
Western holidays have, however, been commercialized somewhat, especially Christmas. Christmas is the only holiday that people in China really know anything about, although you’ll probably still get hundreds of curious questions about it. Most questions are inquiries into whether or not Christmas is like the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) and if you are religious. How closely you compare Christmas to Chinese New Year is up to you; I like to answer with ”like Chinese New Year, it’s the most important Holiday and most people celebrate it with their family” and leave it at that.
Christmas in China actually feels just as much like Christmas when out and about in certain parts of the city as Christmas as the West. There are huge Christmas trees and ornaments in the large shopping malls, and even certain entire areas, such as college town (Wudaokou), are super decked out. Beijing snows, so sometimes we get a more Christmasy feel here than back at home in California; I can actually make snowmen, snow-angels and have snowball fights with my friends.
Christmas for Chinese people is actually just a day to go out and party. Most parties take place the day before Christmas, and then at midnight many bars will play some version of “merry Christmas” and everyone will scream “merry Christmas!”, take a shot of whatever together, then start winding down for the night. The actual day comes with more hangovers than it does celebrations.
Christmas in China is just like a 2nd (3rd!) new year, just with Santa costumes, green and red colors, and a different chant.
Halloween
It was just Halloween. Most people in China know very little about Halloween (Then again, who really knows what Halloween is all about anyway?), although most know that Halloween is celebrated sometime in October and that people wear weird clothing. You won’t see any celebrations outside of clubs, bars, and special parties thrown by westerners in the city. There are very few shops that sell costumes, although I did find one that has an amazing selection from Spiderman to ancient Chinese general that lets you rent costumes for the day. The major department stores don’t sell costumes nor do they sell pumpkins: I went to quite a few the day before and only found one very sad Halloween display at the French Carrefour.
A university classmate of mine had a party Halloween night. He is Chinese, and most of the invitees were Chinese as well. My roommate (also American) and I got dressed up in barbarian outfits and painted our faces to look like zombies. On the way to the party we scared the pants off at least 5 different Chinese people, including 2 that only noticed us as we were up close, who then went on to exclaim in Chinese “Oh my god, Oh my god, so scary”; people really aren’t used to seeing other people dressed up like that.
At the party of upward 20 people, only 4 people were dressed up. I guess you could compare to the US where so many people dress up for Halloween after they get out of college, but this party was supposed to be a costume party, and the only ones that did dress up were all Americans. Later that night we went to a large club for a Halloween party, and the majority of the people dressed up were Westerners, while the ones not dressed up were Chinese. Luckily Beijing has a lot of westerners, so it was still a very interesting night.
Halloween hasn’t quite caught on in China, and I’m not sure it will. It’s very outside of their cultural comfort zone to stick out in a crowd, which is what dressing up in a costume is all about.
Birthdays
It happens to be my birthday today! While a birthday is not a holiday, I thought I’d cover the idea here. Chinese people do in fact celebrate their birthday, but WHEN they celebrate it doesn’t seem to be set by any standard. In Asia everybody turns one year older at the beginning of the year and they are born one year old, so it doesn’t matter if you were born in December or July – you are the same age. A baby born 2 hours before midnight would be the same age as someone born a year previously one hour after midnight! People in major cities, especially the younger generations, very rarely use this method for counting age anymore however.
They celebrate their birthdays on the day they were born, but what day exactly depends. Some people celebrate their birthday based on the solar calendar, while others based on the lunar calendar. Most people now use the solar calendar more often when calculating their birthday, but it doesn’t really matter – in the end it’s around the same day and it’s the celebration that matters.
The absolute, by far, most popular activity on birthdays is Karaoke. I love Karaoke, so tonight I’ve book a Karaoke room as well. What’s better than singing your heart out with your friends? Good music, good people, good fun!
In the West, the person who’s birthday it is doesn’t spend any money. In China it’s the opposite. In China the birthday person pays for everything. I assume that this derives a bit from the idea of “face”, in which people try to look good around others, I don’t like that explanation very much, mostly because of the next point…
Chinese people rarely invite people they don’t know very well to their parties. There are a lot of formalities that must be kept up between people that aren’t really familiar with each other, so Chinese people find it hard to really open up and have fun if there are too many people they don’t know too well around. Most Chinese birthday parties, although not all, are kept very small, and often just to a handful of people.
Going back to the idea of face and paying for your own birthday party, you could argue that this is a Chicken vs Egg argument (they don’t invite many people because they have to pay), but that is not the thought process I have personally witnessed; instead Chinese people take pleasure in making sure that their guests have fun. To them, a birthday party isn’t just an ego-building day, but a reason to have a get together in which one person happens to be the center of attention. The birthday person makes sure that everyone has fun, so the attention giving and taking seems more balanced.
I do like large parties though, and westerners in general have fewer inhibitions when it comes to strangers (fewer restrictions I guess). If I held it the Chinese way and paid for everything, I may end up going broke tonight, so I’ll have to stick to my roots. 
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is known well here, but no one celebrates it. Luckily, There are plenty of restaurants you can eat a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at. Some of them are really good and fairly inexpensive: for just $30, last year I ate at a buffet at a hotel that had everything you could think of prepared including free flowing house wine and champaign and it was all high quality.
Since Thanksgiving is really a day to be with family, the best you can do is get together with other friends and celebrate it. Close Chinese friends are happy to celebrate it together and learn about the holiday. In the past I’ve always celebrated it with a mix of American and Chinese friends.
Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s day has caught on more than any other holiday here. Valentine’s day is basically celebrated the same way it is in the US. There’s not much to talk about here about this one. The only interesting thing to mention is that actually there is a Chinese valentine’s day as well, which is also celebrated.
A quick note: girls in China expect men to pay for things, and if the guy doesn’t it means that they are nothing more than friends. Some friends of mine have found girls willing to split costs with them, but it’s really up to you and your standards. Just be prepared for this expectation.
Easter
Honestly, I don’t really celebrate Easter in the US outside of a gathering with family (if they’re around) for breakfast. I haven’t seen any celebration in China, and very few people know much other than it’s existence. You can celebrate it like you would Thanksgiving.
Saint Patricks day / Independence Day / etc:
These holidays are very nationality-specific. There are all sorts of small celebrations throughout the city, usually hosted by bars and clubs, but Chinese rarely participate.
Any Holidays I missed?
If you have any questions about any other holidays or celebrations that I might have missed, post a comment or send me an email and I’ll be glad to let you know what the situation is over here. I’ve covered only holidays
Related posts:
- Tips for Celebrating the Chinese New Year in China
- Restroom Observations in China
- Backpacking through China, part 1
- The Real Cost of Study Abroad (Beijing, China Case Study)
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