Eric's Beijing Diary

I was having coffee this afternoon with my law tutor, when we got kicked out of the coffee bar. Christmas, you know. I had been planning to leave anyway, to go to the Christmas service, but we were in a middle of a discussion about a clause in the criminal procedure book that says, "In conducting criminal proceedings, the People's Courts, the People's Procuratorates and the public security organs must rely on the masses...," so I wanted another 45 minutes or so. The coffee bar had a Christmas "special" (if you can call a 20 kuai cover charge a special). In China, and also in Japan, I think, Christmas for most people is just another version of Valentine's Day. In my case, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because the line at the Haidian Church was much longer than I had expected.

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There is a growing interest in Christmas among Chinese people. Christmas is known to be a very important Christian festival, and most assume that the place to go to find out about it is to a church. In addition, church Christmas programs are free, and open to non Christians, so Christmas programs usually draw a crowd. But the growing interest has exceeded the ability to accommodate it. I got there at quarter to seven, because I wanted to be sure to get a seat for the 7:30 service. No such luck. Jesson had gotten their a bit earlier, but even he was too far back in the line to get in at 7:30. We had to wait for the 9 o'clock service. Fortunately, there were lots of police and security guards there to herd the crowd and keep them back. It would have been a stampede otherwise. The Haidian Church is renting an old building that only holds 700 people. The new building is coming along, but the inside still needs to be finished before it can be used for services.

China as a culture is struggling with the question of Christmas. The Danwei Blog has an interesting piece about some young Confucian Scholars who are trying to wipe out Christmas. Good luck. Once Christmas invades a culture, there is no turning back. I read a book one time by a guy who spent a whole bunch of years in Castro's prison. One Christmas he built a Christmas tree using an old broom. It's been awhile since I read it, but I think he used hangers or something for the branches with empty pill bottles for decorations. Imagine this now, a Christmas tree made out of accumulated junk, in a country where Christmas had been outlawed for many years. A land with no Christmas trees. This prisoner, who later left Cuba, described the reaction of one of the prison nurses when she saw his Christmas tree. Tears were streaming down her face as she gazed at his creation, "It's so beautiful!" What was beautiful? The broomstick? The pill bottles? No. The beauty was Christmas. This nurse had not seen a Christmas tree for many years, but she had not forgotten. You see, Christmas has an inherent beauty that awakens in every human heart a hope that maybe, just maybe there is a refuge for the tiny craft that is our lost soul, bobbing helplessly on the stormy sea of life's uncertainties. Even Castro had to give it up. Cuba has been celebrating Christmas for three years now. Don't get me wrong, Confucius is pretty pervasive, too. This is China, after all. But even Confucius is no match for Christmas.