home sectionhome sectionAlthough only about 10 million people in China (roughly 1 percent) consider themselves Christians, a fact that they keep private, Christmas is still a celebrated time of year across the nation. Chinese are interested in the commercial aspect of the holiday more than they are the religious reasons behind it, but still love to celebrate and spend time with their families during the Christmas season.
Chinese Christmas is primarily a non-religious year-end celebration heavily influenced by the Chinese interest in Western culture. Since only a very small percentage of Chinese practice Christianity, Chinese Christmas is a relatively new phenomenon that came about with the advent of trade and interaction with western countries in the last part of the twentieth century. Chinese Christmas consists mainly of decorating, parties and gift-giving and takes place mainly in large cities.
