Xmas is Chinese Valentines

Beijing is getting into the Christmas spirit. Restaurants, malls, and upscale residences are decked with boughs of paper holly. Window panes all around are scribbled over with frosty, misspelled cheer ("Merry Chrismas!"). Hotels lend their lobbies to adorable choir children and their adoring parents for holiday carols. And eager boyfriends in the city are busily making Christmas Eve plans. At least they should be.

Last week, a reader posted this dicey query on my blog:

"My ABC (American-born-Chinese) boyfriend's idea of a fun Christmas Eve is going to kungfu practice and then meeting up with me at a dumpling joint nearby. When I teasingly protested to this plan, he simply raved that these dumplings come in 'five amazing flavors.' What should I do? I don't want to be demanding, but Wing Chun and dumplings are not my idea of a special first Christmas together."