a Very Chinese christmas, becoming mahjong experts

30/12/2012

A packed Hengshan Communty Church for Christmas Day service.

The 25th itself was a very different affair for us. There was no turkey, no Christmas crackers with terrible jokes, no Brussels sprouts (thank God!) and definitely no Queens speech broadcast live on CC TV (China Central Television).

There was, however, one tradition we managed to uphold and that was attending a Christmas morning service at Hengshan Community Church. Usually there are two English-speaking services on a Sunday, but on Christmas Day there was just the one at 11am.

Combining the normal Sunday attendance plus the expected seasonal extras – the main hall and overflow areas were filled to capacity. Led by Pastor Dale Cuckow from the US, we enjoyed singing a number of traditional carols surrounded by an indoor winter wonderland of twinkling lights and a grand Christmas tree with a bright yellow star perched on top. There was a heart-warming segment where a couple of Sunday school teachers dressed up as Old Testament characters Abraham and Sarah with many of the congregation’s children sat up front listening to the Christmas story unfold.

In just over an hour the service had finished. Slowly, one after another, we spotted various friends who we greeted with hugs and kisses. Everyone was in a festive mood as we took photos and chatted about our plans for the rest of the day. By the Church’s entrance stood a short elegant lady in a long winter coat with her hair kept up in a stylish clip. It was Miranda, our Shanghainese mama (as we call her), who was hosting us for the day. And so, our Christmas got a very Chinese makeover.

(left to right) Lezil, Graham, Christal, Shanae.

In addition to Miranda’s friend Connie, we also had two of our friends join us – Sunni and Lee, both who are Chinese but of Swedish and Norwegian nationalities respectively. Miranda had decided to avoid the overly priced western restaurants opting instead for a locally run Chinese joint for lunch. It was already 1pm and as most Chinese love to have lunch early (11am), the place was pretty empty by the time we sat at our circular table.

Random TWA poster in a traditional Chinese restaurant.

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is the randomness of some of the décor choice of Chinese restaurant owners. Inside, you had the usual Asian good luck signs dotted about. But among the paw-swinging cats and money-bringing charms were destination airline posters including one advertising New York City by bankrupted airline TWA. Glimpsing at the menu, we left it to our Chinese friends to order as the entire selection was in Chinese characters (still haven’t got the hang of it yet). Miranda pointed out, that there are very few other cultures in the world which can rival the Chinese when it comes to food variety. And as if to hammer home the point, over 15 dishes of meats, vegetables, sauces and cold entrées were ordered.

Fitting together like puzzle pieces, each plate was squeezed on to an elevated round glass platform in the middle of the table.

Steadily, we moved it around as we all helped ourselves to delicious morsels of bites which ranged from the very spicy to the tastefully sweet. There something about continually eating with small bits of food using chopsticks that fills you up quickly. Unlike the western way of one plate to the one person, where we shared and ate to our heart’s content and still at the end of it, we couldn’t finish it all having to dao bao (takeaway box) it for later. Total bill RMB 320 (£32) for six people including unlimited Chinese green tea. No Western restaurant’s Christmas menu would come close to that amount.

Our magnificent Chinese Christmas feast.

Setting up the mahjong tiles for the next game.

The traffic outside was at its normal midweek tempo and we had to wait a good 15 minutes until we eventually hailed an available taxi. A half an hour ride to the west of the city and we arrived at Miranda’s two bedroom apartment located in a neat urbanised complex. There were plenty more guests to arrive later that evening. To wile away the hours, out came a box of newly bought mahjong pieces – a popular Chinese pastime. With traces of the game rummy, mahjong and its 136 tiles was a lot more intricate as we had to learn and remember Chinese characters for the numbers and the four winds – North, South, East and West. Not to mention using terms like ‘pong’ (three identical tiles) or ‘chow’ (sequenced tiles)

Even the start of the game had a specific process. Tiles facedown, everyone used both hands to mix them up before creating four two-tiled walls all starting from each corner of the table. A roll of the dice determined who went first and then picking the tiles had to run in a pre-determined order. There was a kind of ceremonial finesse that you don’t ever see in Western games of this nature. Connie was our teacher and very quickly, Lezil seemed to catch on to the strategy involved in winning. “This one, very smart,” said Connie with her thumbs up as she grinned at Lezil.

Lezil on a winning streak in mahjong!

Despite the obvious linguistic disadvantage, Lezil rapidly transformed into a ruthless player even beating Connie – the master – at her own game. Both skill and luck are honourable elements in Chinese culture and that afternoon, Lezil combined the two taking home eight games in the five hours we played. No one could quite believe it. I joked with Connie telling her that I will be grooming my wife to be a champion mahjong player, ready to win us some big bucks.

Incredible Christmas Day host and our wonderful friend, Miranda.

Whilst we were busy outdoing each other on the mahjong table in the living room, Miranda had coordinated a feast even greater in variety than our lunchtime experience. It was already 8pm and the rest of Miranda’s closest friends had arrived. Most of them were from the south and therefore Cantonese speaking which was a stark difference to the Mandarin that Lezil and I were used to.

Huge steaming pots of food were laid out, centred around a rice cooker. Each person grabbed a ceramic bowl and chopsticks, thus beginning the second eating-fest. A truly memorable way to spend Christmas in China. But the night was far from over for us. We had one more item to tick off the to-do list. Thanking Miranda for an awesome time, we jumped in another cab speeding back towards the city centre.

A table spread of Caribbean dishes awaited us at our friend’s place. Camille, a teacher from Jamaica, has long been our partying buddy, especially at every party organised by the Caribbean Association in China. It was already late but Camille was gracious enough to have kept some food aside for us. Having stuffed ourselves twice that day already, all we could muster was a nicely seasoned vegetable broth and homemade apple pie courtesy of the lovely Christal who is also renowned for her Caribbean Banana Bread.

The other guests left shortly after we arrived. So it was just the three of us – Lezil, myself and Camille. Making ourselves comfortable on her large furry rug, we talked about the year that was 2012 and expectations for the coming year. Personally, I am more of a fan of one-to-one or small group conversations. I find you get to really experience more depth and insight into a person’s thinking. Camille is one such person who is so vibrant and positive that you can’t but help feel inspired to grab life with both hands and get the most out of it. And that had to be one of the best gifts she could have shared with us. Plus, we left Camille’s apartment with enough Jamaican dishes for lunch and dinner the following day. What a Christmas Day!