Christmas trees were visible everywhere, and Christmas lights also appeared in many places in Taipei. Christmas has become a "bigger event" in Taiwan than when I was a little girl in Taiwan. Still, I am not sure what Taiwanese people make of Christmas, what does it mean to them?
The most interesting tree was in National Taiwan Normal University 國立師範大學 (see the picture above, on the left, took in December 2011, Taipei). It looked like a Christmas tree, but with a touch of Japanese culture. What decorated the tree was papers with people's w ishes for the New Year. The hanging of wishes is what Japanese people do on Tanabata Festival 七夕祭り. Tanabata celebrates the annual meeting on July 7 of two lovers who are separated in the rest of the year, according to the Chinese legend (For more, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanabata). The Japanese people used to celebrate it on July 7 on the lunar calendar before the Meiji period (1868-1912), but they now celebrate it on July 7 on the Gregorian calendar. They would write their wishes for the year, and hang them on bamboo or other trees (see the picture above, on the right, took in July 2009, Osaka). Looking at how the Christmas tree was full of wishes hanging on it, I think it shows how Taiwanese people combine different elements from various cultures and traditions to make something new in Taiwan. This Christmas tree, a (European) Christian practice, with Japanese Tanabata practice of hanging wishes on the tree, in a major university in Taiwan to celebrate Christmas a Christian holiday gives Christmas a different meaning.
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