Christmas has secured a spot on the Chinese calendar as a cherished excuse for shoppers to go berzerk
BEIJING: China’s shopping malls in late December leave little doubt that the country has been smitten by Christmas, if not in quite the way devout Christians might hope.
Christmas has secured a spot on the Chinese calendar as a cherished excuse to buy, buy, buy. And while Christianity is indeed spreading in the officially atheist country, many shoppers have only a faint idea of the holiday’s religious connection.
But their manner of celebration is sure to win the blessing of at least one group: economists. “It’s not really a real holiday,” said Benny Zhang, 29, a computer programmer outside a Beijing mall with his wife. “It’s just a nice atmosphere for shopping and a chance to swap gifts with each other.”
Even as China has become wealthier, the savings culture has been reinforced by the dismantling of the social security system, which forced ordinary people to keep enough money on hand for education, medicine and old age.
But Christmas reveals that Chinese consumers, buoyed by fast rising incomes, have now burst on the scene with a fervour for shopping that someday might rival their American counterparts.
Anna Kalifa, head of research in Beijing for Jones Lang LaSalle, a real estate management firm, said: “There is a new generation that is coming along and really changing things. They value quality and they want to spend money,” she said.
Seven of the world’s 10 biggest shopping malls will be in China by 2010, Kalifa said. Hard numbers show why. Retail sales rose 18.8 per cent in November from a year earlier, marking the fastest growth since 1999, the National Bureau of Statistics reported this month.
Bedecked in trees and bunting, with carols piped through their speakers, Chinese malls are thronged by shoppers at Christmas and look much like ones anywhere else in the world.
The difference lies just below the surface. Wang Lijun knows her Santa Claus hat and coat are supposed to lure customers to the buffet house in the Beijing mall where she works but beyond that she is confused. “The boss makes us wear these,” the restaurant hostess, 25, said. “I have no idea what they mean.”
That the gift-buying element of Christmas has spread faster than the religious rituals of the holiday is seen by some Chinese Christians as more an opportunity than a worry. This will help more people to know about Christmas in China according to christians
Christmas has become important, it has not displaced more traditional holidays, especially the lunar new year, in terms of cultural significance or retailing power. Come the Chinese New Year, set for early February in 2008, shopping malls will only get more crowded.
“Christmas is more of a preparation for Chinese New Year, in terms of the sales season beginning and it being a reason for decoration,” Kalifa said. “Chinese New Year surpasses it by far.”
