Secret Santa

 Christmas is not a holiday in China, at least not in the traditional sense.    But everyone seems to know about Christmas...well, the gift-giving part of Christmas.  Chinese culture loves to exchange gifts - on holidays, weddings, graduations, birthdays. Gifts are also important to professional relationships, which brings a whole set of unwritten rules known as "guanxi".  So it is no surprise that the Chinese are more and more growing to love Christmas.

Our little team at work organized a "Secret Santa" gift exchange...complete with decorations and an artificial tree.  (Same stuff you would buy in the U.S.....it's all made here anyway.)  For most of the folks, this was their first time ever to do such an Christmas exchange.  The beauty of Christmas is that it is so egalitarian - gifts are given to everyone and not just a special guest of honor.  So everyone had a chance to give and to receive and to enjoy.