Christmas in
China
Celebrated: December 24-25 (commercial; not a national holiday)
Signature traditions
- 1.Giving 'peace apples' (ping guo / 平安果) wrapped in colored cellophane on Christmas Eve
- 2.Christmas Eve is called Ping'an Ye ('Peaceful Night') and is more celebrated than Christmas Day itself
- 3.Massive light displays in commercial districts — Shanghai's Nanjing Road, Beijing's Wangfujing, Hong Kong's Tsim Sha Tsui
- 4.Couples treat the holiday as a romantic date night, similar to Valentine's Day
- 5.Christmas isn't a public holiday — most people work on December 25 unless they're at a Christian community celebration
What's on the table
Peace apples and Western novelty meals
The peace apple — a single apple wrapped in elaborate decorative paper — is the iconic Chinese Christmas item. Beyond that, Christmas dinner usually means trying Western foods (turkey, roast goose, cake) at hotel restaurants, more for novelty than ongoing tradition.
The iconic decoration
Shopping district illuminations
Chinese Christmas decoration is concentrated in commercial districts — massive trees, light displays, and Santa-themed window dressing in malls and luxury shopping streets. Home decorations remain uncommon outside Christian families.
How gifts are given
Among urban young adults, Christmas Eve gift exchange between couples and friends is increasingly common. The traditional family gift-giving event is Lunar New Year, not Christmas.
Did you know?
China's tradition of giving wrapped apples on Christmas Eve emerged in the 2000s entirely from a pun. The Mandarin word for Christmas Eve, Ping'an Ye, contains 'ping an' (peace) — and 'apple' (ping guo) starts with the same syllable. Today, tens of millions of decorative apples are exchanged annually on December 24.