Finland is known as the home of Santa Claus so the Christmas market in Shanghai has a special house selling souvenirs from the Nordic country.
Children from Shanghai Children's Welfare Institute were invited to visit the Christmas market. On New Year's Eve, Dec 31, the market will hold a charity party titled "We are with you" for the old folk from The Elders' Apartment.
Enjoying a sumptuous Christmas dinner is now one of the must-dos for a large number of urban Chinese. A very popular high-end Italian restaurant called 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo BOMBANA, on the Rockbund, a new commercial area downtown and home to luxury retail outlets and fine dinning restaurants, had tables for the first dining session, from 6 pm, fully booked as soon as its Christmas menu came out even though its five-course Christmas menu in the restaurant was priced at an eye-watering 988 yuan ($159) plus 10 percent service charge. If you wanted selected wines with that, you'd had to be prepared to cough up a hefty 1,688 yuan per head.
Puli Hotel and Spa, a luxury hotel located in the Jing'an district of central Shanghai, has prepared a special five-course dinner only available on Christmas Eve priced at 688 yuan a head, excluding service charge. A wine-pairing option is available for an additional 388 yuan.
"Since we only have a Western-style restaurant in the hotel, we rated the Christmas menu higher than others," said Stefie Ma, marketing communications manager of the hotel.
Burdigala, a cozy wine bar located in Jing'an district, posted a Christmas menu at 298 yuan per head. Franck Boudot, its owner, said more than 60 percent of the seats were booked.
Jimmy's Kitchen Shanghai, a popular restaurant among white-collar workers, has launched three special traditional European style menus for Christmas Day lunch priced at 488 yuan. Meals on Christmas Eve are 688 yuan and on New Year's Eve 788 yuan, excluding 15 percent service charge.
Decorating houses with Christmas ornaments is not just popular with expatriates in Shanghai. Liang Jinghua, 58, a retired anesthetist, has decorated her home with everything appropriate she can think of for the past five yuletides.
Her crockery has a Christmas theme at this time of year and she puts out pine boughs, pine cones, bells, ribbons, seasonal plants at 140 yuan each and has a green and red tablecloth. She also planted a real cedar in her garden as a Christmas tree. Every item is of good quality and costly.
People in Hainan enjoy warm weather
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