China Travel Forum

[Sandra]

we are an Aussie family travelling through China and will be in Shanghai for christmas. we were wordering if there are any westerners out there that would like to meet up to celebrate christmas day. we have seen very few westerners on our travells so far.... where are you all? we would love some company...

[Victor Smith]

There are lots of Westerners in China, but there are so many more Chinese, so they are hard to spot.There are church services for foreigners in Shanghai. There is a large Catholic church and large interdenominational Protestant church, both holding services in English. The Protestant one tends to the evangelical instead of the liturgical but maybe that is not a problem for you. There are also some smaller gatherings but they are harder to hook up with if you are just passing through. Most will be doing either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day services. Ask at your hotel, Also, try to get hold of this monthly expat-oriented magazine when you get to Shanghai. By government order, services for foreigners are open to non-Chinese passport holders only. You are also welcome to visit a Chinese church but services will obviously be non-English .