Santa Claus is coming to town!

Last week was, as we all know, Christmas but for me it was a special Christmas because it was my first Christmas in China. The thing about Christmas in China is that they don't really do Christmas. Sure, they do the lights and decorations but they don't really get it, no one celebrates and it really is just a consumer holiday here. No baby Jesus anywhere to be seen.

But we weren't going to let China's lack of Christmas enthusiasm stop our celebrations so in true Christmas style we decorated our apartment and even managed to find a little Christmas tree to really get into the spirit. The lead up to the big day itself was pretty different to at home; there was no Christmas holidays to get the festive mood going and no Christmas carols playing everywhere, no Christmas movies on TV and no mince pies. But if there was one thing we did keep it was Christmas parties...

Card games at their finest...

Our friend, Alvin, hosted a party on Christmas Eve eve, which was bizarre and hilarious and so much fun. The party was a mix of Aston staff, Alvin and his wife's Chinese friends and family and lots of children. About 10 minutes after we arrived, we were sitting calmly chatting on the sofa when a Chinese woman burst into the apartment shouting “Happy New Year!” and gyrating across the room. She was absolutely hammered! After demanding that Alvin's father-in-law took off her shoes for her, she pounced on us and so the first of the millions of photos we would have taken of us that night were taken. Shortly afterwards she disappeared, presumably for a quick lie down, and some semblance of calm was restored. Aside from the drunk family members Alvin's family had put on an amazing spread of food that probably could have fed an army. We probably spent a solid hour huddled around the food table sampling everything as more and more dishes kept coming out. So good! As the night wore on a giant bottle of whiskey was brought out and the “organised fun” began. Pictionary was a semi-success, but limited by the mixed language teams so we moved onto a language that's international, drink. After a few rounds of card games, we decided it was time to move the party on to bigger things, and headed to a club called 'Yes 18' for our first experience of nightclubs in Yinchuan. And I think it's fair to say that 'Yes 18' didn't disappoint. In a lot of ways it was a generic Chinese nightclub, tables of people sitting around drinking beer and whiskey, blaring generic techno music and no dancing – if you don't count the hired Russian girls in their bikinis – but it was fun to completely dominate the dance floor and feel like gods for the night.

Christmas Eve was our Christmas party, and it had a lot to live up to! We made a cheese platter (sounds much more fancy than it actually was), got in the obligatory booze and hoped for the best. It was fun celebrating with friends, and of course the teacher in all of us came out as we drifted yet again towards organised fun and classroom games. I am also glad to report that it was a lot less messy than our Halloween party was, and thankfully required a lot less cleaning up in the morning.

Actual Christmas Day was the most different to how it is at home... 

At home my mum wakes me and my sister up early so that we can do our own presents before our hectic day of social calls starts. In China, Jenny and I slept in until we were both starving when we crawled out of bed to clean up the mess from the night before. 

At home we have an epic breakfast, normally including bagels and some kind of egg accompanied by a glass of bucks fizz. In China we did the epic breakfast, but bucks fizz was the last thing we wanted after the night before. 

At home I have a lovely Christmas stocking made lovingly by my mum. In China....well that was the same! I was lucky (and spoilt) enough for my mum to post be the entire content of my stocking to China for me in the weeks before Christmas, and for Orion to buy me the actual stocking. 

At home we set off bright and early for a delicious feast of a lunch; turkey, roast potatoes, the whole works! In China we went to our local bar where they were putting on 'food and drinks'. We were promised a turkey so we were optimistic...overly optimistic.The turkey looked like a turkey, but there was something a little bit off about it, and the potatoes...well, for one they were mashed (what?!) and they can, at best, be described as smash. Oh no...

Becky dominating the bar

Turkey (and orange slices)

The highlight for me was definitely the opportunity to play bartender and get taught how to make our own cocktails. I made for Alex a cocktail with a raw egg yolk in it, which made him gag, and Becky made me a drink which was pretty much just champagne and Pimms. DIY cocktails are always a great idea.

Overall Christmas as different, but fun. Instead of being the holiday of family and food that we know and love at home, Chinese Christmas was a few days of friends, drinking and the odd present thrown in. It's always weird having traditions that have been kept all your life broken for the first time, but I didn't come to China to do everything exactly the same as I had in the UK. So long as the day is spent with loved ones around you it's Christmas to me, regardless of all the trimmings (or lack thereof!).

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!