The (Asian) Education of Miss 爱美丽

Facts:

• Harbour City, a large shopping mall in Hong Kong, spent HK$13 million (US$1.6 million) on Christmas decorations this year
• Hong Konger spent $25.6 million on holiday shopping last year.
• In a city of 7 million, only about 500,000 (7%) are Christian

Though I tend to lean traditionalist when it comes to Christmas decor (white lights on the tree this year, Dad!) I do have a strong appreciation for kitsch, especially done with a tongue-in-cheek deliberation and creativity. A very kitschy Christmas is what America does best – the tinsel, the front yard blow up Santas,  the Rockettes, the sweaters – the list is endless. Cliches abound, but so does generosity and love and forgivness and family all that feel-good stuff, so it works.

But Hong Kong has taken Christmas tackiness to a whole new level.  I have to admit I waver between feeling highly offended by this  level of tackiness, and just completely awestruck that the city would spend this much time and money on a holiday that is completely and totally imported. 

Witness:

We <3 TST East!

Festival Walk Mall Tree

It’s hard to provide an adequate sense of scale here – but know that the first two buildings were taken from across the causeway, the third from across the harbor, the next in a public square in front of a mall, and the last in one of the city’s biggest malls.  In other words, they’re all huge. The city feels like an Christmas-themed Vegas on steroids.  Christmas has overtaken Hong Kong in every respect, big or small. There’s a non-stop singing Christmas tree in the foyer of my hall, and snowmen and elves and gingerbread men hang all around campus, and in public buses, and in 7 Elevens, and in non-English speaking grocery stores… everywhere. 

My theory is that Hong Kong, like many other Asian cities like Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, etc. embraces commercialism with an unabashed enthusiasm that even America cannot match. They share none of the same weird guilt complexes Americans do about making Christmas a commercial sporting event and then shamefully reminding ourselves of the “real” morals and values behind the holiday when the shopping stress sets in.

So when you start to cringe (or squeal in delight) at the newly installed glowing set of Rudolph and his reindeers on the Jones’  roof nextdoor, remember that there’s a much bigger contender in the battle for Christmas kitsch, and be humbled.