christmas in beijing

There was a restaurant near my first apartment in Beijing that was
decorated with Christmas lights and Christmas kitch year-round. The owner told me he thought the decorations might attract foreign students from the university down the street to his restaurant. At first this sounded crazy but I learned not to underestimate the power of the cardboard Santa Claus head and green tinsel to cheer me up on a muggy summer days. I used to eat there all the time and it wasn't only because of the homemade potato chips.

Christmas is not a national holiday in China (Christianity is exactly mainstream) but non-religious Christmas decorations like lights and Christmas trees have gotten popular this time of year with people in cosmopolitan cities. By the looks of the video below filmed by Janek Zdzarski, Beijing was really decked out in Christmas duds this year. I like the end of the video when the police officer covers the lens of the camera with his hand and tells him to stop filming.

-Nate