Christmas in Shanghai!

WOW, what a Christmas! This year was my second Christmas away from home, and truly as much as I miss my family and friends from back home, it was truly great! Last year I also had a lovely Christmas, visited Christmas markets and had a huge turkey dinner at a friend’s house, with a Secret Santa and the rest! This year has been even more festive, happy and merry. A couple of weeks ago I ordered a cheap £1.80 Christmas tree on Taobao (China’s ebay/amazon) and it turned out fabulous! That has really gotten me into the Christmas spirit.

Anyway, on Friday I went into school with some mince pie gifts in my bag for my friendly colleagues and my Santa dress packed ready to wear! I arrived around lunchtime and their festivities for Christmas were absolutely fabulous! As soon as I walked into the canteen I was greeted by “Santa” (a colleague humorously dressed up as Santa) and a heart shaped cute gift; which turned out to be a Christmassy decorated pingguo (apple)! It was fantastic!



The Christmas Carnival activities they prepared would last from 12pm-2pm. All sorts of Christmassy, fun activities had been prepared for the students to enjoy. For instance, colouring, quizzes, playdough, building cards, shake contests and even the most awesome Christmas catwalk! We all wore Christmas hats, antlers, snowman headbands and Christmas carols were played the whole time. It was simply magical! I love that my school really embraces Western culture and festivals. I’m truly blessed to be working there.



Anyway, after a festive day at Qingpu Songwen School I headed home to do some last minute Christmas shopping at Carrefour for my friend, who I would be meeting the next day for a gift exchange, and then went home to get ready for my Christmas Works Party! It would be a formal event in which a buffet and free flow drinks served. It was a wonderful event, great food, lots of wine and happiness! Also, it was lovely to see lots of old faces I haven’t seen in a while. I also ended up going out afterwards with a bunch of work friends and have a great night!
The next day I planned to meet my best friend Furkan to spend Christmas Eve daytime together. I cooked us breakfast and we exchanged gifts which was nice! I genuinely love buying for other people so it was sad not to be at home for Christmas where I could buy my family lots of gifts.

After this, we headed out to do the behind the Bund exploring route! It was fabulous. I love these days where we walk the streets of Shanghai and explore the old architecture, buildings, landmarks and remarkable views. Makes me fall in love with Shanghai as a city more and more. It’s rich colonial past, though devastating in many ways, has contributed to the uniqueness of Shanghai as a city.


By the evening, I was exhausted! After cooking some food at home I had a typical Christmas eve of watching movies and relaxing. I watched Empire of the Sun – great movie based on true events!

So, the next day was CHRISTMAS! After a nice lie in, I got ready and headed to meet my friend Sarah and go to Mr. Harrys to join everyone else whereby we’d booked a table for a proper turkey three course dinner! Not to mentioned the free flow wine, beer and mulled wine! It was truly fantastic. The food was scrumptious, drinks great, we sang carols, played games, ate cake, lots of turkey, cheese, crackers, the works! It was truly a special Christmas.



After this, we all headed back to a friend’s house to continue the festivities, drink and be merry! It was an amazing, unforgettable Christmas!


My next adventure is TOMORROW. I will fly to Guilin, Guangxi Province of China. I will stay there until Sunday, meaning that I’ll spend my new year there! I’m excited and better go now to get myself prepared!

I’ll be in touch!


Sabrina xxx


Location: Shanghai, China

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