In today's BON feature, Sylvia Gunawan examines the pervading influence of Christmas in China, and sees how a predominantly non-Christian country is embracing both the commercial and the entertaining aspects of the holiday period.

All the hallmarks of Christmas – the gifts, the festive spirit, the decorated tree and of course the shopping – are slowly catching on here in China. Now that Christmas has become so commercialized in the west, China wants a piece of the action too.

In today's BON feature, Sylvia Gunawan examines the pervading influence of Christmas in China, and sees how a predominantly non-Christian country is embracing both the commercial and the entertaining aspects of the holiday period.

The fingers are still being pointed following the climate talks in Copenhagen, after significantly less was agreed on than had been hoped. But as governments ponder their next environmental steps on the world stage, steps on a smaller scale are being taken to tackle global warming. This Christmas, some Shanghai residents have foregone real trees in favor of greener substitutes.

It's not a white Christmas, but a green one here at the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium. No living trees were cut down, but instead, all these trees were made out of recycled materials, such as paper cups, newspapers and leaflets.

As in much of the rest of the western world, Christmas decorations started appearing in Beijing several weeks ago. Chinese website huanqiu.com reports the Christmas spirit in China is growing stronger every year, gaining ground on the traditional Chinese Spring Festival.

Recent media reports claim that China's younger generation increasingly looks forward to Christmas, and that, as a result, anticipation for the Spring Festival is somewhat more subdued.

Huanqiu conducted a poll asking Chinese net users if they thought Christmas net users can steal the spotlight from the Spring Festival. Just 20 percent said yes, while 80 percent said no.

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Major airports around the world have issued heightened security measures to prevent future terrorist attacks. And it's been no different in China.
The Chinese mainland stepped up security checks for flights heading to the United States last week after a young Nigerian man tried to ignite an explosive device on a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas day.