Festivals · 16 October 2026 · 4 min read
How Christmas is celebrated in China, and what to say
Christmas in mainland China is an ordinary working day. Offices, schools and most shops are open, and the trains run as usual. What China has instead is a Christmas season: trees in shopping centres, set menus in restaurants, and a busy Christmas Eve for couples and friends. It is worth knowing what to expect, and the handful of words that come with it.
Is Christmas a public holiday in China?
Not on the mainland. 25 December is a normal working day, and so is Christmas Eve. The next public holiday is New Year's Day, 1 January, called 元旦 (Yuándàn). The big family holiday of the year is Spring Festival, Chinese New Year, which falls on 6 February in 2027.
Hong Kong and Macau are different. In Hong Kong, Christmas Day and the first weekday after it are public holidays. Macau lists Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as public holidays, though they are not days employers are obliged to give off. Everything below is about the mainland.
What people actually do
For most people in Chinese cities, Christmas is a social occasion, not a religious one. Shopping centres put up trees and lights from late November, and Christmas starts a long run of sales that carries on through New Year's Day to Spring Festival. Christmas Eve, 平安夜 (Píng'ānyè), is the big night: couples go out for dinner, friends meet up, and restaurants offer Christmas set menus that sell out days ahead.
China does have Christian churches, and many hold Christmas services, but for the great majority of people the day is about going out, shopping and small presents between friends.
If you want a table on Christmas Eve in a Chinese city, book it the week before, not the day before.
Why people give apples on Christmas Eve
This is the one Christmas custom that is purely Chinese. Christmas Eve is 平安夜, literally the peaceful night. The word for apple, 苹果 (píngguǒ), starts with the same sound as 平 (píng) in 平安, peace. So an apple given on Christmas Eve wishes someone peace and safety for the year ahead.
These apples are called 平安果 (píng'ānguǒ), peace fruit. Shops sell them wrapped in coloured paper or in little boxes, sometimes printed with a message, at many times the price of an ordinary apple. Students give them to classmates and teachers, and couples to each other. If someone hands you one, a simple 谢谢 is all you need.
The words you will need
圣诞 is built from 圣, holy, and 诞, birth, and 节 is the same festival you see in 春节, Spring Festival. 圣诞老人 is the Christmas old man, which is Father Christmas.
Christmas, New Year's Day or Spring Festival?
The greetings follow the calendar. 圣诞快乐 is for Christmas, 元旦快乐 for 1 January, and 过年好 for Spring Festival. 新年快乐 (xīnnián kuàilè), happy new year, works for either new year. People will not mind which one you use, but saying 过年好 in February shows you know which new year matters most in China.
If you are in China at Christmas
- Expect a normal working day on 25 December. Banks, offices and government services are open.
- Shops and shopping centres are busy, especially on Christmas Eve evening, and many put up signs saying 正常营业, open as usual.
- Book any Christmas Eve dinner well ahead. 订满了 means fully booked.
- Give apples if you want to join in. A wrapped 平安果 is a warm, cheap gesture that people will understand.
Facts about holidays and dates checked in October 2026.
The situation guide for this post: Christmas in China, with every phrase and audio.