China says "Merry Christmas"

This is a bit late in posting... oh well.

We've read that a popular bumper sticker this year in America has been one that states "We Say Merry Christmas" with the implication that they do not say "Happy Holidays" or some other generic or 'non-offensive' greeting.

Well China doesn't take the middle ground... they say Merry Christmas, and say it proudly!

Isn't it interesting... you can no longer say Merry Christmas in America, a country that guarantees free speech and freedom of religion...
but you can say Merry Christmas in a Communist country where the government doesn't allow free speech or freedom of religion. Go figure.

Here are some pictures from one of Shanghai's trendy and really fun areas, Xujiahui, showing how the area was decked out for Christmas.

Nothing says Christmas like a Swarovski Crystal Christmas tree...

All of the street lights were even decorated festively...

The girls just couldn't contain themselves and broke out into spontaneous dancing...China in some ways has taken Christmas to commercialized extreme that America has yet to reach. Every worker in the mall, whether at a restaurant or store, wore a Santa hat. We just had to laugh at seeing every worker in the mall in Christmas hats!

And finally, Adayla's kindergarten did not have a "Holiday Program" but a "Christmas Program"
Adayla is holding some flowers there on the left. Do you like that Santa wannabe? We're still not sure what he was supposed to be... but Merry Christmas!
And the crowd loved it! Pushing, shoving, blocking each other's view, and encroaching so far forward that the teachers had to ask the parents TWICE to back up because they were on the performance area.

Yup, Christmas was EVERYWHERE here...

One final note...

I had a class that met for a week in December and a week in January. After our last class in December the teacher, who is from India, wished the class a Happy New Year. My classmates, all of whom are Chinese, responded with "Happy New Year" but then all wished the teacher "and a Merry Christmas to you!" My teacher never responded with a Christmas greeting, but again said Happy New Year. I'm sure my classmates didn't even notice. It's just funny to watch.