Hatching plans for an early Easter

This year's early Easter date has caught many expats by surprise. Still recovering from the Chinese New Year holiday break, many said they were unprepared to celebrate the important Christian religious festival and a time especially reserved for family get-togethers.

"I only realized last week that this weekend was Easter," says Shanghai expat Nicole McMahon. "I really hope my chocolate eggs come here in time."

But it didn't take the Australian long to get up to speed. Hot cross buns were her number one target.

"There is no bad way to eat them," she says. "The only thing we all agree on is that it has to be butter, not margarine."

All Christian churches across China will hold ceremonies today, Good Friday, and on Sunday.

The Congregation of the Good Shepherd in Beijing will hold a non-denominational morning service before hosting lunch and an Easter egg hunt for the children. Pastor Dan Sandifer-Stech says the services are for foreign passport holders only.

The Christian Easter tradition of giving eggs parallels with Chinese customs, which date back thousands of years.

Eggs are symbolic of spring and new life and are painted red for Chinese festivals.

Many expats from Christian countries have special memories about receiving chocolate eggs on Easter Sunday morning and China's major hotels are offering the chance for expat children to enjoy this experience. The hotels are offering Sunday brunch for the traditional family get-togethers.

"It's all about the atmosphere," says Li Ann Loo, marketing communication managers for the Westin in Beijing. Hotels are holding magic shows, egg painting, live music and visits from the Easter bunny.

In Hong Kong, schools closed for the week allowing many expat families to return to their native countries. The authorities expect a 6-percent increase in traffic in and out of Hong Kong over the Easter break.

"People are disappearing and taking the chance to get away," says Wendy Nesbitt, who has lived in Hong Kong for 30 years.

But the Canadian says she enjoys celebrating Easter with her family in the traditional way with a big Sunday dinner.

"We have always done it the same way (stayed in Hong Kong)," she says while busy preparing traditional treats such as a big leg of ham and scallop potatoes. "It hasn't picked up an Asian flavor. For us the tradition has remained the same as it always been."

Although the Easter tradition remains the same, the shifting date has caused a little confusion this year.

A common misconception is that Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, which marks the first day of spring. Night and day are almost the same length.

According to the Western Christian calendar, which was set up by astronomers working on behalf of the church in AD 325, Easter falls on the first Sunday after the Pascal moon.

The Pascal moon dates were estimated by these astronomers and do not follow the actual lunar cycle. Because the Western Christian Easter Sunday is fixed on the Pascal moon, it can occur on any date between March 22 and April 25.

To further add to the confusion, Eastern Orthodox Christians this year will celebrate Easter on April 27 because they follow a different calendar.

Trevor Nichols

(China Daily 03/21/2008 page19)