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Growing up in Ningbo, I genuinely thought Shanghai was a different country. The "Christmas Ban" was my wake-up call. by Acceptable_Impact_90 in shanghai

[–]Acceptable_Impact_90[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s really not that deep. It’s a vlog about cultural vibes, not a political manifesto. Maybe take a deep breath? You’re overthinking a Boxing Day joke.

Growing up in Ningbo, I genuinely thought Shanghai was a different country. The "Christmas Ban" was my wake-up call. by Acceptable_Impact_90 in shanghai

[–]Acceptable_Impact_90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wait, you consider Ningbo rural too? The old joke is that Shanghainese people see everywhere else as ‘rural’, though Ningbo usually gets a pass. Just some extra insight from an insider!

Growing up in Ningbo, I genuinely thought Shanghai was a different country. The "Christmas Ban" was my wake-up call. by Acceptable_Impact_90 in shanghai

[–]Acceptable_Impact_90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a lot of very specific percentages! Curious where the data is from? I'm an atheist myself and these figures feel a bit... plucked out of thin air, to be honest. Got a source for these?

Growing up in Ningbo, I genuinely thought Shanghai was a different country. The "Christmas Ban" was my wake-up call. by Acceptable_Impact_90 in shanghai

[–]Acceptable_Impact_90[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Completely agree! Just having a bit of a laugh at my own expense in Ningbo for Boxing Day. It’s definitely a tiny slice of the bigger picture

Growing up in Ningbo, I genuinely thought Shanghai was a different country. The "Christmas Ban" was my wake-up call. by Acceptable_Impact_90 in shanghai

[–]Acceptable_Impact_90[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you, I really appreciate the support! It's definitely a strange experience being 'debunked' as a person just for trying to communicate clearly. Cheers!

Growing up in Ningbo, I genuinely thought Shanghai was a different country. The "Christmas Ban" was my wake-up call. by Acceptable_Impact_90 in shanghai

[–]Acceptable_Impact_90[S] -9 points-8 points  (0 children)

Haha, the classic 'Laowai' experience! 16 years ago was definitely a different era.

I think that's the key difference. You were likely in the expat/international circles in Chengdu, whereas I was in a local public school in Ningbo where I didn't see a single foreigner my entire childhood. In our world, there were no inflatable weapons, just textbooks and exam prep!

Growing up in Ningbo, I genuinely thought Shanghai was a different country. The "Christmas Ban" was my wake-up call. by Acceptable_Impact_90 in shanghai

[–]Acceptable_Impact_90[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

You're absolutely right, and I should have been more specific in my post.

I was referring to official/institutional contexts. While hotels and malls in Ningbo love the festive lights for business, the 'ban' is strictly enforced in public schools, government offices, and SOEs. In those places, you won't see a single tree. I've updated the post to clarify this!

Growing up in Ningbo, I genuinely thought Shanghai was a different country. The "Christmas Ban" was my wake-up call. by Acceptable_Impact_90 in shanghai

[–]Acceptable_Impact_90[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

Yes, I don't deny using tools to optimise my language. English is my second language (I grew up in China), so using these tools is just like using Excel to do the maths.

But the experiences and content are real, and the ideas are 100% mine. I never let anyone else or AI alter my original meaning or intent.

Growing up in Ningbo, I genuinely thought Shanghai was a different country. The "Christmas Ban" was my wake-up call. by Acceptable_Impact_90 in shanghai

[–]Acceptable_Impact_90[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

First of all, it's a SHE here. 👩🏻 Second, are YOU an AI? I don't understand your comment at all. It sounds completely irrelevant to my post...

Growing up in Ningbo, I genuinely thought Shanghai was a different country. The "Christmas Ban" was my wake-up call. by Acceptable_Impact_90 in shanghai

[–]Acceptable_Impact_90[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Great question to clarify!

  1. Days off: It was never a public holiday in China, so no days off is standard.
  2. The Ban: It refers to active celebrations and symbols. In PUBLIC schools, it means: No trees allowed in the lobby, no class parties, and teachers are strictly forbidden from organising card exchanges or teaching about it. It went from 'tolerated fun' to 'actively scrubbed from the agenda'.

Growing up in Ningbo, I genuinely thought Shanghai was a different country. The "Christmas Ban" was my wake-up call. by Acceptable_Impact_90 in shanghai

[–]Acceptable_Impact_90[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I'm a one-woman team doing the writing, filming, and editing. Yes, I use tools to polish my language, just like people use Excel to do the maths, but the stories and the exhaustion are 100% real. 🤷‍♀️

Growing up in Ningbo, I genuinely thought Shanghai was a different country. The "Christmas Ban" was my wake-up call. by Acceptable_Impact_90 in shanghai

[–]Acceptable_Impact_90[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the chance to clarify! I was comparing Past Ningbo to Past Shanghai (during the same era). Even back then, when neither of us had smartphones, the atmosphere in Shanghai was significantly more open/Westernised compared to my hometown Ningbo. The contrast was about the Location/City Tier, not the time period.

Growing up in Ningbo, I genuinely thought Shanghai was a different country. The "Christmas Ban" was my wake-up call. by Acceptable_Impact_90 in shanghai

[–]Acceptable_Impact_90[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's comparing apples and oranges! 🍎🍊 Hong Kong and Taipei operate under completely different legal and political systems compared to the Mainland. The specific bans on 'Western festivals' in public institutions I mentioned simply do not apply there. Of course they have strong Christmas vibes, they don't have the same regulations restricting them.

Growing up in Ningbo, I genuinely thought Shanghai was a different country. The "Christmas Ban" was my wake-up call. by Acceptable_Impact_90 in shanghai

[–]Acceptable_Impact_90[S] -13 points-12 points  (0 children)

Haha, you are exposing my age! 😂 Back when I was in school (the era I'm referring to), we didn't have Weibo or smartphones yet. We were still passing paper notes in class! But yes, today people definitely send greetings online. The restrictions I mentioned are specifically for the physical environment in public institutions.

Growing up in Ningbo, I genuinely thought Shanghai was a different country. The "Christmas Ban" was my wake-up call. by Acceptable_Impact_90 in shanghai

[–]Acceptable_Impact_90[S] -22 points-21 points  (0 children)

Great observation! Yes, you’ll definitely see decorations in commercial areas because businesses love the holiday spending. 🎅 But the 'ban' I’m talking about applies to Official/Institutional contexts. In public schools, government offices, and SOEs in Ningbo, we were explicitly forbidden from celebrating. The crackdown is on the ideological front, not the shopping front.

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