The church services are over all the holiday presents have been opened; the kids are out of school until the beginning of next year. It’s time for a winter vacation and if you still have lots of holiday spirit in you, the most interesting displays are in a Hong Kong Christmas with giant Santas and lots of purple glitter, the city is giving mainland Chinese a taste of over-the-top yuletide décor. So, buy your tickets and book a flight to Hong Kong. You will not be disappointed.

Once you have arrived visit the 20 foot tall replica of Barcelona’s La Sagrada Familia cathedral at the Elements mall in West Kowloon or wander among the 100 Nordman fir Christmas trees shipped in and placed in the Pacific Place mall in the Central district. Then see the two-story rotating wooden head at the Times Square mall in the shopping mecca of Causeway Bay. There is also the moving three-tiered cake decorated with purple glitter at the Harbor City Mall. All giant displays of a magical place. Pose in front of the 40-foot tall Christmas tree made up of oversized plastic champagne flutes to a large crystal teardrop, with the Hong Kong skyline in the background.

China doesn’t traditionally celebrate Christmas. Chinese New Year, which occurs in late January or early February(depending on the lunar calendar), is the traditional family holiday. But many Chinese are becoming better acquainted with Christmas by way of Hong Kong, a former British colony where the holiday is more openly celebrated- and a new hot tourist destination for a generation of richer Chinese travelers. Thanks to the absence of sales taxes, prices of luxury items can be 30% lower than in China. In the past 5 years, 17 malls measuring over 100,000 square feet each have opened.

There is the display of the two-story-high puppets of Santa and his rocking horse. The New Town Plaza hosts nightly laser shows. In the western part of the world, people go home to be with family but in Hong Kong, people go out and spend money on lavish holiday displays and spend money. Have a Happy.