Christmas in China

How China celebrates Christmas

Christmas, Shèngdàn Jié (圣诞节, "holy birth festival"), is not a traditional Chinese festival, but it has become a familiar part of December in China's cities. In December, shopping malls, hotels, department stores and shopping streets put up Christmas trees, lights and displays, retailers build Christmas into their sales events, and songs such as "Jingle Bells" play in the shops. Christmas trees and decorations are still uncommon in most Chinese homes; the celebration happens mostly in public spaces.

For many young urban Chinese, Christmas is a fashionable social occasion. Christmas Eve is the main night, spent at restaurants, karaoke bars and parties with friends or a partner, and gifts are exchanged among friends. Christmas cards and hanging stockings have also been adopted by some. Shèngdàn Lǎorén (圣诞老人), "the old Christmas man", is the Chinese name for Santa Claus, and white-bearded Santas greet shoppers in malls and shop windows. A Peking University sociologist quoted by NBC News summed it up: Christmas in China "is not celebrated at home or in church, but in the mall".

Píng'ān Yè: apples on Christmas Eve

China's own contribution to Christmas is a pun. Christmas Eve is Píng'ān Yè (平安夜), literally "peaceful night" or "safe night". The word for apple, píngguǒ (苹果), begins with the same sound as píng'ān, so giving an apple on Christmas Eve has become a wish for peace and safety. Traders sell them as píng'ān guǒ (平安果), "peace fruit", wrapped in colourful paper. Giving apples is especially popular among teenagers and young adults, and it is sometimes said that the more elaborate the wrapping, the closer the friendship.

Christians and church services

Christians are a minority in China. In 2018 the State Council Information Office reported more than 44 million Christians, about 38 million Protestants and 6 million Catholics. Surveys reviewed by the Pew Research Center found that about 2% of Chinese adults formally identified as Christian between 2010 and 2018, although more said they held some Christian beliefs. Adults may legally worship in churches registered with the state-recognised bodies: the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and the China Christian Council for Protestants, and the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association for Catholics. Many Christians also worship in unregistered house churches.

For Chinese Christians, Christmas is a religious feast marked with Christmas Eve services and choir performances. In Beijing, most of the city's Catholic and Protestant churches hold Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services and choir events, usually in the evening, and thousands attend Mass at St Joseph's Cathedral on Wangfujing Street, the East Church. The South Church at Xuanwumen, established in 1652, was the first Catholic church in Beijing, and the North Church at Xishiku, established in 1703 and rebuilt in 1900, houses the office of the Bishop of Beijing.

Public holidays and official attitudes

Christmas is not a public holiday in mainland China. The national holiday calendar, revised from 1 January 2025, has 13 days of public holidays: New Year's Day, four days for the Spring Festival, and holidays for the Qingming, Labour Day, Dragon Boat, Mid-Autumn and National Day festivals. On 25 December, offices, factories and shops work normally.

The picture is different in the two special administrative regions. In Hong Kong, Christmas Day and the first weekday after Christmas Day are general holidays; in 2026 they fall on Friday, 25 December and Saturday, 26 December. In Macau, both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are public holidays, as is the Winter Solstice; none of these is an obligatory holiday, so private employers decide whether staff have the days off. Read more about Christmas in Hong Kong.

Official attitudes to Christmas on the mainland vary by place and year. Public Christmas decorations and commercial celebrations are widespread, but some local authorities and institutions have discouraged Christmas events, saying that more attention should be paid to traditional Chinese festivals. In 2014, for example, the education bureau of Wenzhou barred Christmas-related events in the institutions it oversaw, and Northwest University in Xi'an asked students to watch a film about Confucius instead of celebrating Christmas.

Christmas around China

China is also a major source of the world's Christmas decorations. According to a 2017 China Daily report, manufacturers supplying the markets of Yiwu in Zhejiang province made about 60% of the world's Christmas decorations.

Christmas and winter festival food in China

There is no traditional Chinese Christmas meal. Christmas eating means apples, restaurant dinners and hotel buffets, while the foods with deep meaning belong to the Chinese winter festivals that surround it: Dōngzhì, the Winter Solstice, and the Spring Festival.

New Year's Day and the Spring Festival

China celebrates two New Years. Yuándàn (元旦), 1 January, marks the start of the Gregorian year and is a one-day public holiday. Greetings for the Gregorian New Year are often sent by phone, and those wishing friends and colleagues in China and abroad a good year can share Happy New Year 2027 images and wishes, from greeting cards to ready-to-send messages.

The far bigger celebration is Chinese New Year, the Spring Festival or Chūn Jié (春节), which follows the lunar calendar. In 2027 it falls on Saturday, 6 February, beginning the Year of the Goat. Families gather for a reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, often travelling long distances during chūnyùn, the roughly 40-day travel season around the festival described as the largest annual human migration in the world. Married couples and elders give red envelopes, hóngbāo, to younger unmarried relatives, favouring amounts with the lucky number 8. The festivities traditionally end on the 15th day with the Lantern Festival, on 20 February 2027.

Christmas and New Year dates in China, 2026–27

The official mainland holiday schedule for the 2027 Spring Festival, including any make-up working days, is published by the State Council, usually late in the preceding year.

Christmas in China: frequently asked questions

Christmas in nearby countries