Santa comes to town as festivities kick off
Shangri-La Hotel, Changchun in Jilin province kicked off its exciting Christmas season with a charity Christmas lighting ceremony in early December.
Hundreds of Chinese and international friends participated in the event, which also marked the launch of the “2019 Poverty Alleviation Tour of Hougang Village”.
From 3 pm to 7 pm on Dec 2, the hotel had a charity Christmas market in the lobby on the first floor, where caring locals sold a variety of handicrafts. The charity Christmas market will continue on to the following three Sundays through Dec 23. The proceeds will be used to help build new houses for low-income families in Hougang village.
Participants can also help the low-income villagers through the hotel’s public WeChat platform by buying a Christmas wishing star for 10 yuan (about $1), on which they can write their wish and blessing, and then hang it on the huge Christmas tree in the hotel lobby.
There are 22 destitute households in Hougang.
Some villagers have been living in simple earthen houses for decades and they have been hoping for a new house for many years.
In 2016, the hotel and the foreign affairs office of the Changchun government completed the reconstruction of the dilapidated houses for five low-income villagers.
In 2017, the hotel raised a total of 100,000 yuan through a charity walk activity to help six low-income families in the village build new houses.
This year, the hotel has raised nearly 110,000 yuan to aid more low-income villagers to rebuild their houses.
At the Christmas market, Toby Huang, the hotel’s general manager, lit up the first Christmas wreath candle.
This year, the hotel adopted a unique “surprise” lighting ceremony to light up the Christmas carnival in an eco-friendly way.
The general manager and guests rode bicycles to generate electricity. As the speed increases, the lights of the 8-meter-long Christmas tree light up one after another.
During the ceremony, guests enjoyed delicious Christmas special cake prepared by the hotel’s executive chef.
This year’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony was co-organized by the Shangri-La Hotel, Changchun, the foreign affairs office of the Changchun government, China Daily’s Jilin branch, Jilin Huaqiao Foreign Language School and Columbia English Kindergarten.