Far from Silent -- Christmas Eve in Yangshuo


by Joshua Samuel Brown, Dec 30, 2002 | Destinations: China / Yangshuo
A pause in the chaos. Christmas Eve in Yangshuo, China.

A pause in the chaos. Christmas Eve in Yangshuo, China.

A pause in the chaos. Christmas Eve in Yangshuo, China.
Christmas Eve in Yangshuo, China.
Christmas Eve in Yangshuo, China.
Christmas Eve in Yangshuo, China.

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through Yangshuo
Drunk revelers were reveling, from near and a 'far
The air was heavy with smoke and the screams of mock fighting
And thick with the BOOM! of explosives igniting

* * *

Christmas Eve in this tourist hotspot in the jagged mountains of southern China is about as far from silent as you can get. As for holy, well? who am I to judge? All is not calm, but all sure is bright - bright with the flash of explosions big and small, from the banks of the Li River to the toothy, impassable hills on the town's west flank. And few would argue that Noel was anything but Joyous in Yangshuo, possibly one of the wildest places in the northern hemisphere in which to spend the most revered of Christendom's evenings. In recent years, the Chinese have become mad about Christmas. While they may not be aware of the fact that what they're technically celebrating is the birthday of Jesus, China is a nation with a keen ability to assimilate the best aspects of other cultures and adopt them to their own tastes. Fireworks are not a traditional part of Christmas Eve in the west, but why be picky? Incendiaries aside, the good people of Yangshuo are, for my money, celebrating in a way that Christ himself would likely approve of - in fellowship, family, feasting and general goodwill to all men. The streets are filled with carolers, their clear voices singing all the traditional songs of the season, and there are at least ten elves for every Santa.

But what about the massive quantity of explosives? Would Our Savior have understood, let alone approved of this local tradition which dictates that the celebrator run screaming down the brick streets hurling fistfuls of moth-ball sized explosive charges at the feet of fellow revelers? What would Jesus make of the deafening cacophony of MERRY? BABABABOOM? CHRISTMAS?. filling this normally serene southern Chinese mountain town from dusk till nearly dawn, ostensibly being done to celebrate his birth in a manger just over two millennia ago? Certainly, Christ has seen far less peaceful activities carried out in his name. The Son of Man was known to have preached tolerance and love. He probably would have been able to tolerate being forced to duck and cover for a few hours as cute local girls hurled small combustible devices at his sandal-clad feet.

Of course, such hypothesizing is all academic. Non-believers don't believe in Jesus, at least not in any way that makes his opinion mean anything to them. To the believer, Christ is everywhere, and therefore was in Yangshuo with me and a few thousand other revelers this Christmas Eve. If so, he probably spent Christmas day the same way I did, picking bits of colored paper and stones out of his hair and teeth. Whether he was there or not, I'd like to publicly offer my gratitude to whoever was watching over me that night. Thank you for protecting me from suffering retinal damage during the festivities marking the birth of Jesus, otherwise known as the town of Yangshuo's annual Christmas Eve Firestorm.

* * * * *