CNN news 2009-12-29 加文本

2009-12-29 cnn

JOHN VAUSE: I am John Vause in Beijing. Christmas is still relatively new here in China only really celebrated within the last 10 years. In fact, there was a time when you couldn't display a sign which read Merry Christmas because of the religious meanings, but now it seems Christmas is everywhere.

It's mostly a commercial holiday, a chance for retailers to cash in. And on Christmas eve, many go out to the restaurants, bars, and clubs to party into the wee hours. And on Christmas day, well, that's a working day, like any other.

MORGAN NEILL: I am Morgan Neill in London, and one of the city's busiest shopping districts and what we are looking at is one of the oldest Christmas traditions, and that's last-minute shopping. Now why is so much of it going on. Some people say they did not get paid in time. Some say they have not had time to do their shopping and others have just taken a little too long to get into the Christmas spirit.