As the year draws to an end the realisation kicks in that we didn’t quite manage to fulfil any of those New Year’s resolutions we promised to ourselves, the cold weather dampens our mood, and we’re feeling tired due to long working hours for the busiest time of the year, there can be only one thing to look forward to in December - Christmas! Two decades ago it was a festive tradition only observed in the West, but now it’s undeniably popular in China too.
Christmas was once a time that was solely a religious festival, an event celebrated amongst Christians to remember the birth of Jesus. Nowadays, Christmas in the West is a time for families to come together, decorate Christmas trees with tinsel and lights, exchange presents, drink mulled wine, eat mince pies and a Christmas dinner, the limits to Christmas festivities in the West are endless (much to the delight of companies who see it as their busiest and most successful month in the annual calendar). In the world, everybody has their different traditions as a way to celebrate it: in the UK children put out cookies and milk by the chimney eagerly awaiting for Santa Claus and his reindeers to bring presents; in many European countries the big Christmas dinner is eaten on Christmas eve as opposed to Christmas day; and in China apples are exchanged.
Christmas Eve in Chinese is ‘平安夜’(Pingan Ye), which literally translates as safe and peaceful night, bearing similar resemblance to the word for apple ‘苹果’ (pingguo), therefore apples being used as a gift to exchange at Christmas time. Increasing numbers of people observing this tradition as part of their holiday has meant that the price of an apple on Christmas Eve has risen far above the average amount of 2.4 yuan and the highest price reported was 78 yuan for one! The fun doesn’t stop there though, with more and more Chinese people partaking in Christmas activities, going to Christmas parties, eating out at restaurants and enjoying the general Christmas cheery mood. Many Chinese couples see it as an opportunity for another romantic holiday to enjoy with their loved ones. A festival so popular, it’d be hard for companies not to capitalise on Christmas.
As Christmas is seen as another opportunity to make more money, it nicely fills the gap between celebrating Singles’ Day and Spring Festival. One industry that has captured the attention of Chinese consumers is beauty, with several brands releasing limited-edition holiday special gift sets, so dazzling it’d be hard to miss. If there’s one thing that Chinese people love – it’s getting their hands on exclusive, limited-edition products. Crystal company Swarovski saw their limited-edition Christmas advent calendar filled with Swarovski treasures quickly sell out on WeChat. Swarovski’s success is partly due to their clever marketing strategy of using a popular online fashion blogger to brag about the product.
It’s not just Western brands embracing Christmas though. Chinese brands also view Christmas as a key opportunity to display themselves as modern, outward- looking and international companies, with many shops adorning their windows and shelves with Christmas decorations. A research study from a market research firm showed that Chinese people have already bought 600,000 Christmas trees and 3 million decorations among the 20,000 Christmas- themed products just on Alibaba’s ‘Tmall’.
Despite the rapidly increasing popularity of Christmas in China, the majority of money made from Christmas is from its exports to other countries. Yiwu being the hub of Christmas-related exports. Stepping into Yiwu is like entering a real-life Santa’s workshop. Yiwu produces glittering baubles, life-size sleighs, twinkling lights and many other Christmas products making for a $5.6 billion industry in China. With such low prices it’s hard for any other countries to compete with China in the production stage, allowing China to enjoy mass market share. The U.S is a major trading partner with China buying 90% of its Christmas lights from China. Even though Trump’s trade war with China has affected the prices of Christmas lights, this has had little effect on their sales, with Americans still choosing to export their lights from China.
As China opens up to the West, it’s only natural that strong Western influences become a part of the national culture. And, although the value of the international market still far outweighs the value of the domestic market, it’s still clear to see that there is growing appetite for Christmas traditions in China. As China has the biggest consumer market in the world, perhaps one day it may even take the biggest share of the Christmas market.
Please note that this article was written from a personal point of view and not based on a professional study.