This is a time to see the lights everywhere in the city and hear questions from young Chinese about the "exotic festival" from the West. Local Catholics show a surprising ability to combine mass culture and evangelisation. “I like to think it is a ‘hidden prophecy’ of the True Light for which everyone yearns, and a glimmer of freedom for those who live the greyness of everyday life,” a source living in China told AsiaNews.

 

Even in China’s globalised cities, Christmas lights are making their way. Thus, pop culture has provided local Catholics with the opportunity to share their joy with everyone, as an AsiaNews source living in China explains below.

Everything is beautifully bathed in light. Even China’s grey cities, all the same.

Seen during the day and at night, Chinese metropolises have two different faces. Flat, mass-made, anonymous, almost suffocating by day; warm, bright, lively, and welcoming by night.

At night skyscrapers sparkle, signs light up, illuminations of all kinds come to life, and everything becomes more harmonious. "Where the beautiful and the horrid coexist," said Carlo Carretto about Hong Kong’s skyscrapers.

Everything is beautiful when bathed in light, especially at Christmas. And even China is tinged with a Christmassy mood at Christmas.

Cafes, clubs, shops, and photoshoot locations have embraced "Christmas romance" as something exotic and Western. Christmas in China is a bit like Halloween in some parts of Europe, a holiday imported for its picturesque aspect rather than its meaning.

It is normal to be asked: "Can you explain to me how Christmas presents work?" Or: "How do people dress for Christmas in your country?" Almost always: "Is Christmas like in the movies? How beautiful the Christmas atmosphere must be in your country!"

Obviously, except for Christians, no one is aware of its religious significance, but younger generations have embraced the holiday as an additional opportunity to go out or create content on social media.

There are no holiday breaks, and Christmas Day as such goes unnoticed. Still, some university students claim a directive exists to intensify exams and tests around 25 December to dissuade Christian students from actively participating in and preparing for the celebrations.

One might think that the Church would shy away from such a commercial style in favour of a more austere version. Nothing could be further from truth since, when it comes to mass culture and inculturation, the Church in China always amazes, gifted at mixing the seemingly bizarre to us but perfectly linear to theirs; the most striking example is the funny themed stickers used on WeChat with the images of Jesus, Mary, sheep, Matteo Ricci, etc.

During Advent, I spent several afternoons in the church courtyard wearing reindeer antlers, acting as a prop for photos under the tree, amid clouds of glitter. I saw volunteers dressed as Santa Claus accompanying curious onlookers to take photos of the nativity scene.

I also spent Sundays under the Christmas tree singing Christmas carols at the top of my lungs (just for fun), switching from "Gaudete" to "Last Christmas" as if they belonged to the same genre.

Speaking of musical genres and Chinese Catholics' perception of Western culture, once at a KTV (karaoke bar), I saw people searching, convinced they'd find it, for "Stay with us, oh Lord" in the international songs section. (Of course, we didn't find it, but there was "Bella Ciao," strictly in Italian.)

It also happens that the police officers assigned to monitor celebrations compliment the volunteers on the beautiful Christmas atmosphere. At Christmas but also at Easter, the main churches in the cities are under special surveillance, especially to monitor the content of homilies.

In my opinion, this "spontaneous style" that combines mass culture and evangelisation is an integral part of the Chinese spirit and pastoral style, which indeed extends beyond the Christmas season.

I saw one parish offer free foot massages to passersby on the street: people enter the church out of curiosity, and while receiving the massage, they can look at their surroundings, listen to the background music, and often ask why there's a picture of a crucified man hanging "in the room." They are then invited to participate in some activity, and then one thing leads to another.

Everything is beautiful, bathed in light. And at Christmas, the true light comes into the world, the light that illuminates every person.

The light that adorns the skyscrapers in the metropolises or that of mass-produced Christmas lights is not necessarily consumerist corruption. I like to think it is a "hidden prophecy" of the True Light for which everyone yearns, and a glimmer of freedom for those who live the greyness of everyday life.

We are made to live in beauty, and beauty takes up residence among us. Thus, even a concrete expanse of identical skyscrapers can become a humble cave that holds light, holds hope.

• china
• christmas
• consumerism
• inculturation
• outreach