Advent and Christmas in Hong Kong

Dear Friends,

Since Hong Kong was a British colony before 1997, the celebration of Christmas has been and remains an important holiday tradition. The Christmas season is the beginning of a longer holiday period that wraps up with the Chinese New Year, which comes in January or February, depending on the lunar calendar. In between Christmas and Chinese New Year, it is difficult to get much done, similar perhaps to the mood between Thanksgiving and Christmas in the United States.

Schoolchildren have a week-long vacation for the Christmas season though the majority of Hong Kong citizens are not Christian (only 8 percent). Since the church is sponsor of many of the local schools, their students are exposed to the Christmas story. Most Hong Kong people would know that Christmas is related to the birth of Christ.

This is a festive season with lots of Christmas trees and decorations, parties, and images of Father Christmas (Santa Claus). Through Christmas cards are exchanged, the most popular cards are not religious, but ones with light-hearted, secular themes. There are also numerous performances of sacred music, the "Nutcracker" ballet and other special events at public places such as malls and hotels. One traditional outing is to see the spectacular Christmas decorations along Nathan Road in lower Kowloon, especially on Christmas Eve, when the streets are blocked off to traffic.

Since Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in Hong Kong, we do not see the same level of family reunions and gift giving for Christmas as in the West. Christmas Day and the following day, formerly "Boxing Day," are public holidays.

Christmas in the religious sense is observed by the Christian churches with the familiar carols, worship services, and nativity scenes. The more liturgical churches, such as the Catholics, Lutherans, and Anglicans, observe the Advent season. Most churches have a Christmas Eve and/or Christmas Day service. Messages by the Catholic bishop and the Anglican bishop are usually broadcast on the television.

In the past, schoolchildren from the churches would go to sing carols at the members’ homes. This would start on Christmas Eve night and go on through Christmas Day. Members would have to stay up late to make sure they were awake to receive the carolers! This tradition has not been kept up as much in recent years, as people no longer live in the villages close to each other.

Christmas in Hong Kong is a welcome time of celebration, though it is highly commercialized. An advertisement for a hotel a few years ago pictured Mary and the Baby Jesus in the stable with the caption: "If they had booked at the Sheraton, they would have had a room at the inn." The general manager later apologized for the ad after protests were lodged. While it seems what is most sacred is the almighty dollar, Christmas in Hong Kong is a lovely season of peace, joy, and goodwill.

Judy Chan

The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 179