The Influence of Western Festivals in Respect of Chinese Culture1 IntroductionEvery country has its own festivals. When a festival comes，all of the countrymen will celebrate it in a traditional way. With the development of the world, many countries do not only celebrate its own festivals but also foreign festivals. The phenomenon is especially popular in China.With the influence of western cultures, more and more Chinese people prefer to celebrate western holidays rather than traditional ones. When Christmas or Valentine Day comes, youngsters flood into bars, restaurants, and department stores to celebrate these festivals which their ancestors know little about. Everything has two points. This phenomenon reflects both advantages and disadvantages. Maybe our traditional holidays are more boring than those western holidays, so more and more people don't like to celebrate them. For an instance, nowadays Spring Festival is quite different from our parents‟ generation. And say some good points of it，First, obviously it can bring big income of economy to our country, it can make some people become richer, like business men. Second, our lives will become more meaningful, we get more chances to get together with our parents and friends.In my opinion, the popularity of western festivals includes two aspects. First of all, it reflects that Chinese people‟s attitude towards countries has changed. We become more open, and we are more willing to accept foreign something different. It also reflects that western culture has more effects on us than ever before. Nowadays, people in China are increasingly interested in celebrating foreign festivals, especially those western festivals. The reason why I choose this topic is that the coming Christmas and the whole holiday phenomenon make me wonder the factors that contributing to this craze.2 Analyzing the Status of the Western Festivals in ChinaSome critics are arguing that people are losing their traditional values and the respect of historical heritage. They insist that the popularity of foreign festivals should warn sociologists and educators nationwide. However, I do not completely agree with them. Foreign festivals in China today are celebrated for fun for they give people opportunities to relax. All of us have been familiar with festivals ever since our childhood. There are all kinds of festivals, from conventional ones such as spring festivals, Mid-autumn Day to national holidays like the Labor Day. These days, more and more people are turning into celebrating foreign festivals ------San Valentine‟s Day, Christmas. However, some people wonder whether it is necessary to celebrate our traditional festivals. So I think it is essential to find something exclusively reasonable to explain the strange phenomenon at hand.I would like to begin this part with a survey conducted recently by . In it the hosts ask surfers about their attitudes toward Christmas. Among the 18222, 63.9% said celebrating Christmas is just another way of recreation, nothing serious while 17.85% surfers termed the festival as a fashion act, showing they were not “out”. These two parts clearly indicate the general opinion of the young. Only 7.8% of people define Christmas as a kind of festival colonization. The phenomenon of celebrating foreign festivals plays an important role with the advancement of Chinese economy. When a major festival arrives, the business are trying every means to boost the atmosphere, thus finding opportunity to attract every possible customers. The atmosphere rose by the businessmen however, stimulate the public and raise their desire to celebrate the foreign festivals. They give people certain assumption that it is definitely necessary to be part of the celebration. During the middle of the 90‟s, high school and college students in big cities are limited to celebrate Christmas and other foreign festivals. These young people studied English in class, had their own English names and possessed understanding of the western culture. They usually go to McDonald‟s and KFC, drank co ke, watched Hollywood films while they knew little about traditions of Mid-autumn Day---they even complained that the moon cake tasted awful and should be deserted! But they did remember Christmas, San Valentine‟s Day and April fool‟s DayThen the campus culture spread the so-called “middle class”. Celebrating foreign festivals seems to be a fashion and a trademark of the wealthier class. From this point of view, western festivals begin to show their strong influence on people‟s values and thoughts. The combination of the acceptance of western culture and the desire of western world happened long before the business world enters this field.3 Analyses of Causes of the PopularityWhy are western festivals so popular in China? I think there are many reasons. The most important reason is that the cultural communication between China and foreign countries is more and more frequent. Since China started the “reform and opening up” in 1978, foreign cultures, certainly including festival culture, have affected many Chinese people. Thus, we Chinese can receive some western culture, such as some important western festivals. One reason is someone may try celebrating these important and meaningful festivals, and then more and more people celebrate them eventually. Anothe r reason may be Chinese people‟s curiosity about western festivals. Besides, I think only meaningful or interesting festivals may be accepted by most Chinese people. The young people like celebrating Valentine‟s Day, because the festival makes couples get together and is in favor of the development of the love between the lovers. In contrast, only a few Chinese people celebrate the Easter. I think that is because the culture of the Easter is a little far from our Chinese culture.Now people are facing one question: how to celebrate the Chinese New Year in a way that could both maintain an ancient tradition and make it fit the new time and attractive to the new generation. family gathering and visiting miao hui are still dominantly popular, new activities like tourism, text message greetings and partying with friends are also gaining grounds. Meanwhile, other old traditions, such as worshiping ancestors and kneeling down in front of seniors, have almost completely disappeared. However，some new changes are appearing。