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China falls for Christmas, at least in its stores
Reuters
Sunday, December 23, 2007 12:56:25 PM Oman Time
Christmas decorations are seen at a shopping mall in Shanghai,
December 22, 2007. (Reuters)
BEIJING -- China's shopping malls in late December leave little doubt
that the country has been smitten by Christmas, if not in quite the way devout
Christians might hope.
Christmas has secured a spot on the Chinese calendar as a cherished
excuse to buy, buy, buy. And while Christianity is indeed spreading in the
officially atheist country, many shoppers have only a faint idea of the
holiday's religious connection.
But their manner of celebration is sure to win the blessing of at least
one group: economists.
"It's not really a real holiday," said Benny Zhang, 29, a computer
programmer outside a Beijing mall with his wife. "It's just a nice atmosphere
for shopping and a chance to swap gifts with each other."
Economists long despaired that the Chinese propensity to save, not spend,
was storing up trouble should China's exports falter and hurting the world
economy because it was not buying enough from abroad.
Even as China has become wealthier, the savings culture has been
reinforced by the dismantling of the social security system, which forced
ordinary people to keep enough money on hand for education, medicine and old
age.
But Christmas reveals that Chinese consumers, buoyed by fast rising
incomes, have now burst on the scene with a fervour for shopping that someday
might rival their American counterparts.
"It is hard to get away from cultural norms," said Anna Kalifa, head of
research in Beijing for Jones Lang LaSalle, a real estate management firm.
"What is also true is there is a new generation that is coming along and
really changing things. They value quality and they want to spend money," she
said.
Seven of the world's 10 biggest shopping malls will be in China by 2010,
Kalifa said.
Hard numbers show why. Retail sales rose 18.8 percent in November from a
year earlier, marking the fastest growth since 1999, the National Bureau of
Statistics reported this month.
Bedecked in trees and bunting, with carols piped through their speakers,
Chinese malls are thronged by shoppers at Christmas and look much like ones
anywhere else in the world. The difference lies just below the surface.
Wang Lijun knows her Santa Claus hat and coat are supposed to lure
customers to the buffet house in the Beijing mall where she works but beyond
that she is confused.
"The boss makes us wear these," the restaurant hostess, 25, said. "I have
no idea what they mean."
But the hat and coat do the trick. Business is brisk in the restaurant
behind Wang as waiters clad in similar Santa Claus outfits scurry among the
tables, dodging the poinsettia and fake gifts scattered about the floor.
That the gift-buying element of Christmas has spread faster than the
religious rituals of the holiday is seen by some Chinese Christians as more an
opportunity than a worry.
"It's nothing to be disappointed about," Liu Bainian, vice-president of
the China Patriotic Catholic Association, said. "It's good for understanding.
From our perspective, it's good for spreading the idea of Christmas."
Liu, who often echoes government opinion on church affairs, said Chinese
shouldn't get caught up in the commercialism and should instead view the
Christmas message as one of world peace much like the "harmonious society"
promoted by authorities.
About 40 million Chinese -- or 3 to 4 percent of the 1.3 billion
population -- are Christian, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
But precise estimates are hard to come by, as devotees are divided
between "above ground" churches approved by the ruling Communist Party and
"underground" churches, wary of government ties, that have grown in popularity.
So long as shopping outpaces church-going, Christmas will cheer the
hearts of government officials who have been trying to boost consumption to
lessen the economy's reliance on exports.
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