It’s almost December, which means that here in China, large shopping centers will soon begin preparing for Christmas. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” will accompany the average shopper’s experience as he or she peruses the endless shelves of shiny, new merchandise. Though Christmas isn’t a holiday native to China, it has certainly taken root, especially in cities like Shanghai and Beijing. Of course, Christmas is not the only holiday to be lifted from its culture of origin: cultural migration has also happened in the opposite direction, with the example of how the Chinese Spring Festival has traveled thousands of miles west. So why have holidays with such local roots spread around the world? Partly for economic reasons. People move from one place to another in search of work, and where people go, their culture goes as well. However, this does not explain the popularity of foreign holidays with those outside of the holiday’s culture. Tackling the question of why some aspects of a culture survive in foreign lands is difficult, but most of the discussion points, in some way, to globalization. Globalization is an all-encompassing term for the actors that bring different cultures together, effectively shrinking the world. Of those actors, exoticism and mediatization (media’s influence on political discourse and society) play a huge role in the transmission of culture. Exoticism operates both on the politics of the difference and on the basis of similarity, depending on the context. In China, citizens who celebrate Christmas often do not understand the holiday’s connection with Christianity, despite “Christ” existing in both words. Yet Christmas, like Beyoncé and Kenny G, is foreign in China, therefore it receives fanatic treatment similar to the musicians. Conversely, the spirit of joy and family unity Christmas time brings about is present in most Chinese holidays, making Christmas palatable to the Chinese audience. As far as Chinese holidays in the west are concerned, the same forces are in play. Spring Festival celebrations are massive and flashy; they provide entertainment for westerners who enjoy marveling at the unfamiliar strokes of Chinese characters and the gigantic face of a dancing red dragon. But the parades intrinsic to Spring Festival are extremely familiar to westerners, making the holiday a part of the holiday routine. Mediatization accentuates the effects of exoticism by playing on the differences between two cultures. It’s no secret that in China, companies will use foreigners (usually Europeans) to advertize a product. The same holds true during Christmas, as advertisers ramp up their efforts to make consumers “BUY, BUY, BUY!” In the west, or at least in the United States of America, it’s nearly impossible to detect whether an actor in an advertisement is a foreigner without prior knowledge of that actor. As a result, the advertisements themselves do not create the exoticism, but children’s television shows rather frequently feature Spring Festival, especially in areas densely populated by Chinese immigrants and American-born Chinese people. The shows create intrigue among non-Chinese people and prompt them to go out and see the spectacles first hand. After this cycle has repeated itself enough times, the holidays are no longer exotic; they become pertinent to the lives of people who, years before, were unaware of the holiday’s existence.

Further Reading:

http://goo.gl/S0nlGU

http://goo.gl/6RcQfl

This article was written by Sarabi Eventide. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Marjorie Wang