Dating Chinese Girls at Christmas

Dating Chinese girls at Christmas? Or want to know if it's important to your Chinese girlfriend, either online or in person. Maybe you think Christmas is a western celebration so Chinese people don't really care about it.

Well, be careful if you think that way, as you may miss the perfect chance to impress your potential girlfriend or even make an embarrassing mistake by thinking it's not important to her.

Chinese celebrations and Christmas

The most popular celebration in China, is the 'spring festival', you will probably more commonly know this as 'Chinese new year'. This is the closest equivalent to Christmas that the Chinese have. During spring festival week, pretty much all the shops close and everyone stays with their family, just like it is for us at Christmas.

So, do the Chinese actually care about, or celebrate Christmas? Well surprisingly, the answer is 'yes', but they don't celebrate it the same as westerners.

Christmas in China

When I first moved to mainland China years ago, no one cared about Christmas at all. It was a foreign holiday that had no place whatsoever in Chinese culture. It was truly a joy to be able to go to any restaurant on Christmas day, and then onto a bar later to celebrate.

It was so different from back home, where everything basically closed down, and everyone had family duties to attend to. Christmas in China was great. Note I said 'was'!

Chinese Culture and assimilation

The interesting thing about Chinese culture is that no other invading countries culture has ever been able to change it in any noticeable way. The Mongols themselves after invading China a couple of generations later, had given up on trying to change the indigenous Chinese and essentially started to follow Chinese culture and practice themselves.

Any Mongolian customs were simply assimilated, and thereafter classed as 'Chinese culture'!

Something similar, and a bit strange, is now happening with Christmas day in China.

The 'New' Chinese Lovers Day

In China between June, to the end of August, and following the lunar calendar, is what is known commonly as 'Chinese lovers day'. On this day although there are some traditional things people are supposed to do, most Chinese couples simply do what westerners traditionally do on Valentines day, and go out for a romantic meal.

By the way, Chinese people also celebrate Valentines day too! And this is where Christmas day enters.

Chinese people now celebrate Christmas day as a romantic valentines day, part three, you could say.

Dating Chinese Girls at Christmas Advice

If you are dating Chinese girls, they will expect you to spend this holiday with them by taking them for a romantic meal; and generally doing some romantic things with her/for her, will be much appreciated.

But forget to pay her any attention on this day, and she will really be disappointed. It's no matter to her that it's a western religious festival that isn't part of her culture. She'll only care that all her other friends are going out with their boyfriends and she is not!

If your girlfriend is thousands of miles away then a romantic email, or even a phone call will probably do the trick.

One final piece of advice, if you are in mainland China and are dating Chinese girls at Christmas, then make sure you book a table at a restaurant before the day, as if you don't, you'll be lucky if you can find a table in KFC, let alone another restaurant. Still, chicken is always a favorite in China, so you could do worse really.