P: Ni Hao. Welcome to “Ask Pingping and Jules”, your bridge to Chinese culture. I’m Pingping.

J: Ni Hao. I’m Jules. Wo shi Zhu Li An. You know Pingping it’s difficult to be away from home when Christmas comes around. However being in Beijing this year I’m still able to get some of that Christmas feeling.

P: Yes. Christmas is an exotic festival here in China and it continues to grow in popularity with Chinese people. Around Beijing, for example, you can see many colourful decorations everywhere and every corner of the city seems to have some form of Christmas decoration.

J: Right. I can really sense the festive season here. In shopping malls, supermarkets and restaurants I’ve seen many of the staff dressed in santa clothes or wearing santa hats. You know Pingping there is even a huge Christmas tree and life sized Santa in the lobby here at CRI – and it’s surrounded by presents. Do you think some of those are for me?

P: If you’ve been good all year, maybe! You know Jules, China is not a Christian country, so for many Chinese people, Christmas is seen as a time for joy and fun rather than a religious event. And it’s particularly popular with young people.

J: Really? How do they choose to celebrate Christmas?

P: By shopping, eating out, having parties, holding Christmas Eve festivities and spending time with their family and friends. And naturally, Children are always eager to receive gifts from Santa Claus.  That’s why hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues have all seized upon the Christmas season as an important time to increase their business.

J: They sure have. These places have been beautifully decorated with Christmas trees and ornaments. Many hotels and restaurants are even offering traditional Christmas dinners with roast turkey on their menus, while department stores have stocked their shelves in anticipation of a surge of Christmas shoppers.

P: Although Christmas holds little religious meaning to most Chinese people, many Churches in Beijing, and throughout China, will hold grand celebrations so Christians can spend the festival in the traditional way.

J: That’s right. In fact, many Chinese people with different beliefs also like to go to church during the Christmas season to experience the cultural significance of the holy festival.

P: There are many churches throughout Beijing offering Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services in either Chinese or English. There are even midnight mass services held in Beijing. 

J: You know I’m from the Southern hemisphere and it’s summer when we celebrate Christmas so, for me, having a winter Christmas in Beijing will be just like being in one of those winter scenes you find on a Christmas card. Is the practice of giving Christmas cards and gifts a common practice here?

P: Yes. It’s becoming more and more popular, especially among the younger generation and now we can find an even greater variety of Christmas cards in the shops around Beijing.

J: I’m hoping we’ll see a ‘White Christmas’ in Beijing this year, so that rather than sitting on a beach in Australia in the heat of summer I can build a snowman and throw snowballs, just like in one of those old Christmas movies.

P: So how do you plan to celebrate Christmas where you are? Why not contact us and let us know.

J. Yes, please do. And if you’d like to know more about how festivals are celebrated in China, like Chinese New Year which is coming up next month, – contact us at crienglish.com or send an email to

P: ask pingping and jules@cri.com.cn.

J: Merry Christmas Pingping, Merry Christmas everyone!

J: Merry Christmas!  

(Many thanks to Duggy Day for production and audio-editing.)

Previous Episodes (Please click to listen):

Ask Pingping and Jules--Exercising

Ask Pingping and Jules--Asking about Income

Ask Pingping and Jules--Greetings

Ask Pingping and Jules--Singles Day

Ask Pingping and Jules--Lucky numbers in China 

Ask Pingping and Jules--Chopsticks