Yes, we are a bunch of gawkers! We like going around the malls and looking at Christmas decorations. We don’t celebrate Christmas and New Year in our family – it is a choice we gladly made, emphasising our Baha’i holidays (Ayyam-i-Ha and Nawruz). We do participate in the festivities if our friends invite us or when it is celebrate at our work place.

Both my husband and I grew up without any emphasis made on Christmas (especially what is called “Catholic” Christmas which is celebrated in December). For me, New Year was more important when I was growing up and it was and probably is the biggest event in Russia.

As our daughters are growing up, we teach them about various Winter holidays, including Christmas, Gregorian New Year and Chinese (Lunar) New Year. But the biggest emphasis is made on Ayyam-i-Ha which is celebrated for 4 days (5 days during leap years) and it is a great time for gift giving/receiving, cooking, hosting and visiting friends.

But back to us being gawkers. Christmas time in China is magical. Even though it is not an official holiday but it is a great commercial event and everything gets decorated. So we go around, look at all the beautiful decorations and various Christmas trees.

Here are a few pictures I want to share with you from both Zhuhai and Macao!