(written by Cait)
Christmas Spirit
Leading up to Thanksgiving, I was preparing myself to be pretty homesick during the holidays. No white Christmas, no spritz cookies, and worst of all, no friends and family (well, we do have friends here, and we have each other). But on the eve of Thanksgiving while I was walking home from work at 10 o’clock at night, my neighborhood Costa Coffee caught my eye. Is that a giant nutcracker? Do mine eyes deceive me? I crossed the street to investigate. Indeed it is! And there’s holly, and garland, and bells, lights, bows, the whole kit and caboodle. From outside I could see the baristas wearing Santa hats, making coffee like happy North Pole elves. Or, maybe not, but they didn’t show any annoyance to their festive uniform addition.
Papa John’s likes to get festive duirng Christmas.
Over the next couple of days, Christmas was in full swing in Guangzhou. Restaurants, grocery stores, apartment buildings, had decorations draped outside, inside, and all over their employees. I was starting to wonder if it was government mandated to show Christmas spirit, or a city-wide chamber of commerce competition. In any case, it definitely lifted my spirit. Christmas songs were now being played at my center and in the shopping malls. Massive Christmas trees stood proud throughout the city. Christmas might not be so bad here after all.
Guangzhou has a Christmas market in Haizhu Square, with almost everything Christmas you could need (and lots of things you don’t need), and that’s where we picked up our little, blinking Christmas tree. Every inch of that market is packed with merchandise, it’s overwhelming and at times claustrophobic, but worth a visit.
I even saw Santa on Christmas Eve day! On my lunch break, I headed across the street to the lower level of Citic Plaza to a little import grocery store to grab a couple extra ingredients for our Christmas Eve appetizers (Frank’s Red Hot and BBQ sauce for the little smokies). In the lobby of this hotel/shopping mall/business center, Santa was sitting on a bench next to a stage with a couple peformers singing Christmas songs. I was pretty surprised to see that Santa was not Chinese, but a white guy, with a very obvious fake beard, which was twisted and halfway falling off his face, but he looked jolly enough for the job. As I got closer for a better look, he spotted me in the crowd and motioned for me to come over. Not being in the mood to sit on Santa’s lap, I hesitated, and was saved by two little Chinese girls who bee-lined it to his side. I snapped a quick picture and was on my way.
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve day was a working day, and at the end of every class I had a little Christmas trivia for the students, like what do you do under a mistletoe, how many reindeer does Santa have, etc. I was touched when a couple students gave me presents, not expecting any at all. Chinese are really starting to embrace Western holidays. But here’s the thing about Christmas in China-major cities, like Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing, will decorate and have activities revolving around Christmas, but the Chinese people themselves don’t do anything special to celebrate, unless invited by a foreigner or forced by their employee.
So, Christmas Eve night, Brad and I, Jess and Steven (two of our friends/teachers) reserved a table at the Four Seasons Hotel bar, Tian Bar. Just a couple blocks away from our apartment and located on the 99th floor of the tallest building in Guangzhou, we had fantastic views of the city. Rated as a 5-Star hotel, the Four Seasons was spectacularly decorated for the Christmas season, which really added to our experience. All dressed up and looking dapper, the four of us sat around a cozy, elegant table, drank Jameson whiskey and enjoyed our classy Christmas Eve.
Christmas Day
Brad and I, along with 20 other friends and colleagues had dinner at 13 Factories, a small restaurant owned and operated by an ABC (American born Chinese). Justin, the owner, grew up in the States and moved to China after college to open the restaurant with his Dad. 13 Factories is known for its inventive, international fare and for its feasts on Western holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. It did not disappoint! The all you can eat, all you can drink buffet that night consisted of:
deep fried turkey, loaded mashed potatoes, fresh green salad, sausage and sage stuffing, savory pumpkin bread pudding (my favorite of the night), cranberry chutney, turkey vegetable soup, red velvet cake sandwiches, cheesecake, king cake, eggnog, wine, and beer.
For the majority of foreigners, we wouldn’t be able to make this kind of food for ourselves-we simply don’t have the means to in our little kitchens. And not finding this food often in restaurants, it just another reason to go to 13 Factories. I was too busy eating and being merry, that it didn’t even cross my mind to take pictures.
With the temperature in the low 60s, a lot of us ate outside on the patio. Our colleagues come from all over the world, and we spent some time comparing Christmas traditions. After two hours of eating, drinking, and being merry, it was time to go our separate ways. Most of us left feeling fairly uncomfortable having fasted most of the day in preparation for dinner, then chowed down quickly due to our excitement of seeing the food that night.
To end the night, Brad and I headed back to our apartment and popped in Love Actually, a Christmas favorite.
Yet with all the decorations, food, and activities, it still didn’t feel quite like Christmas. This, I realize, turned out to our benefit. Brad and I agreed we’d be much more homesick if things here were just like home, but without our friends and family. In a way, we don’t know what we’re missing.