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Cashing in on Christmas

Pallavi Aiyar

It is not only China's Christians who have cause to give thanks this Christmas but tens of thousands of workers. For, China manufactures some 70 per cent of the world's Christmas decorations.

DESPITE THE blistering cold, the long queue showed no signs of dissipating. The whipping wind lashed the faces of those lining up as the clock ticked ever closer to midnight. Occasionally a whispered conversation would lead to a furtive exchange in the shadows: cash in return for an entry pass that would secure admission into the imposing 100-year-old building. Giant flat screen LCD displays flashed across the building's facade, providing a view for the hundreds who had been able to gain entrance into the grounds but remained unable to actually push their way inside.

Finally, 12 gongs rang out into the night, heralding the anticipated hour and the majority of the thousands gathered burst into song. The words were in Chinese, but the tune was universally recognisable. "Silent night, Holy night," the congregation sang in harmony and thus began midnight mass on Christmas Eve last year at Beijing's Xuanwumen Church, the oldest Catholic church in the Chinese capital.

Only a decade ago China's Communist party had banned all public celebrations of Christmas, a festival that used to be viewed as a vehicle for insidious ideological pollution. Today, however, the authorities have changed tack and instead of curtailing celebrations these are actively encouraged. This change of heart has less to do with any new-found spiritual bent within the party, which remains officially atheist, and more with a general encouragement of all opportunities to generate higher consumer spending.

As a result, in the run-up to Christmas all of Beijing's major hotels, restaurants, and shop fronts are decked out in fairy lights. At the Laitai flower market, east of the Forbidden City, Chinese shoppers browse among the shimmering trees, reindeer, and Father Christmas figures in search of extra glitter for their homes. Although there are no overtly religious displays such as nativity scenes, sales staff dress up in seasonal red and white and pop versions of traditional carols play on a loop in the background.

Last year, a study by the Social Survey Institute of China published in Beijing Review magazine claimed that two-thirds of residents in China's six largest cities were planning to celebrate Christmas. Some 60 per cent of these said the festival was a way to "express their love to sweethearts, friends or parents," while around 35 per cent saw it as an opportunity for "relaxing and entertaining."

Wang Li Hua, a sales representative at Laitai market's Shangpin store, was clear about the economic benefit Christmas brings. "Our sales go up by over 30 per cent during the Christmas season," she said. So was Cheng Li Min, general manager of Shan Kai decorations, a company that provides tailor-made holiday decorations for families and corporations. She had over 50 clients last Christmas whom she charged anywhere from 1,000 yuan ($125) to more than 10,000 yuan ($1,250) depending on the depth of their pockets and desire to impress. "Since Christmas is not traditional here, people are a little lost about how exactly to decorate. So they need my help," she said.

Yu Yang, a recent graduate from the Beijing Broadcasting Institute, said she had celebrated Christmas before but had only just discovered that the festival had anything to do with religion. "It was quite a shock when an American friend told me she was going to go to Church on Christmas," she said. "I asked her why on earth she would do something so boring when it was Christmas — a time to party!" Her view reflects the attitude of many young Chinese who see Christmas as an excuse to enjoy themselves whether by throwing a party or going on an expensive date. Even attending midnight mass is for many simply a fun thing to do.

Of the several thousands of people gathered on Christmas Eve at Xuanwumen Church last year for example, the majority were in their early 20s. Giggly, gangly couples hung on to each other's arms as they queued up for what many seemed to view as a date devoid of any religious motive. The entry passes that were clandestinely obtained by the entrepreneurial for cash were, in fact, a tactic devised by the church to ensure that regular parishioners, numbering around 3,000, were able to gain access on the night, while the novelty seekers were kept at bay.

But it proved impossible to keep away the hordes of curious onlookers and the church was overflowing with more than 5,000 people. Just before the mass began, a few minutes before midnight, a loud shout went up and the crowds within the church began to go wild, fingertips waving in the air, girls trying to jump on to the shoulders of their boyfriends to get a better view.

Outside the flat screen LCD displays revealed the cause of the excitement. Santa Claus had arrived and was throwing sweets into the congregation much like a rock star might dispense personal items to feverish fans.

A group of 20-odd elderly ladies, lips pursed, looked on disapprovingly. They were devout Christians they revealed and attended weekend masses regularly. They were less than happy at this invasion of their church. "What do these people here know about God," one of them asked.

Like other religions, Christianity in China has been growing in popularity with the authorities gradually coming to recognise the value of religion as a counter to the anomie and disaffection that economic reforms and their attendant social changes have wrought.

As a result, as long as churches and believers guarantee political loyalty to the Party, a greater space for worship is permitted. Proselytising and weekday masses remain outlawed but the numbers of people openly describing themselves as Christians is on the up. Officially there are around 30 million of these but estimates that include "home churches" or churches that remained unregistered with the authorities put the figure considerably higher, at around 80 million.

Church-building spree

China is currently on an extensive church-building spree to cope with these rapidly rising numbers of believers. Several churches that had fallen into disrepair are now being renovated and reopened to worship across the country. The latest is a Shanghai colonial-era Anglican cathedral the Holy Trinity, which after more than 50 years of neglect will get a 49 million yuan makeover with work starting this month.

But it is not only China's Christians who will have cause to give thanks this Christmas but also tens of thousands of migrant labourers who work in the factories of the country's southern boom towns. China manufactures some 70 per cent of the world's Christmas decorations — including almost all of its artificial trees.

According to the China general administration of customs, Guangdong province on its own exported more than $620 million worth of Christmas products in 2004 and for the country as a whole the figure was more than $1 billion.

Several small towns in Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu provinces have gone from rags to riches all thanks to Christmas. For example, according to Xinhua news agency, more than 7,000 farmers in Xiaoguanzhuang town of Jiangsu province collectively manufactured some 100 million Christmas decorations for exports in 2004, earning close to $48.3 million.

The town now has 45 large businesses and more than 400 processing workshops, producing angels, trees, and reindeer.

A world away from the hipsters of China's big cities, these peasant workers know next to nothing about the festival for which they spend their hours and days labouring. Nonetheless it is they who often have the merriest Christmas of all.

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