Christmas with a bit of a Chinese Flavor
Local Beijingers wish you a Merry xmas.
Links to the video:
- Watch it and share it on Vimeo full HD: link
- Watch it and share it on Youtube: link
I decided to go in the streets of the capital and ask some local people to wish merry xmas in english. Christmas celebration is increasingly being celebrated in China's major cities,especially by young people who are more and more exposed to western culture through TV, movies, books etc.. but most of the elder generation don't have a clue of what xmas means (even though they see the city being invading by xmas decoration)
At first, it wasn't that easy to ask local people to wish merry xmas in english, for the simple reason that they don't speak a word of english. So for them saying Merry Xmas was probably the first sentence they ever pronounced in english. Most of them had to repeat after me. Some refused because they felt embarrassed to say it in front of the camera.
In general, it was an enriching experience to go out and talk with local Beijingers and seeing them being amused by what this funny sentence sounds like.
My initial idea was to ask them to say it in different languages like french, german,spanish etc... But I soon realized that they already had a hard time pronouncing it in english (which I felt was the easiest to say in terms of sounds and syllables), so I couldn't imagine them saying it in german (Frohe Weihnachten!), I can't even say it!
The point is that I didn't want to turn them ridiculous because the overall feeling was supposed to be fun, simple, and just to put a smile on people's face when they watch it.
Forward this video to your best friend, your boyfriend, to your neighbor, to your coworker, to your dog, to your sister and brother, to your parents, to whoever has a special meaning to you.
At last, it's my turn now to wish you a merry xmas and a happy new year 2011.
Thanks for your continuous support.
Liu, 35 years old, is installing about 2 to 3 xmas trees per day throughout the city.
I asked him where Santa Claus is living, he answered: 'Maybe in Harbin'.
Yang Ho (Left) and Zhang (Right) are good friends. Yang is a trash collector and Zhang is a security guard for a construction field located in CBD Guomao, south east of Beijing.
I asked them what they wanted for xmas, they both replied: ' To be happy and healthy'.