If you have never played Chinese Christmas game, also known as the Chinese Gift Exchange, you are missing out. Now that you've visited the official website, you either are interested in throwing a party or have been invited to one. Either way, we have all the information, rules and gift ideas that you might need. You might be asking yourself: What is this all about?
What Is Chinese Gift Exchange?
Chinese Christmas is an age old tradition of exchanging gifts with a large group of people for Christmas. Although due to it's name, one may be inclined to think that this tradition is strictly practiced in China, nothing could be further from the truth, in fact, this favorite holiday pastime has been popular not only in Asia, but Europa and North America as well.
Chinese Gift Exchange makes Christmas celebrations more fun, brings people together and adds a bit of laughter to the evening when coworkers, family or groups of friends get together to enjoy each-others company, delightful treats and mouth watering drinks. Often singing can be heard when after a few drinks courage is gathered by many to join the karaoke followed by drawing names for the gift swap. The big pile of carefully but misleadingly wrapped gifts awaits those that date to pick and open them. In a few moments, everyone will indulge in experiencing the surprise and humor that the mysterious gifts have to offer the group.
How Does Chinese Gift Exchange Work?
The idea is then when you have a larger group, it is impractical for everyone to buy each-other a Christmas present. Imagine a group of coworkers for example. it would not be possible for everyone to go out shopping for each member of the group, there's enough stress associated for taking care of the close family members, so the solution for everyone to show up to the party with a single Chinese Christmas gift, and leave with a single one as well. Which one you will end up taking would depend on the process of exchanging or swapping the gifts.
Here's how it works: A group of people decides to throw a Chinese Christmas party. An amount to be spent on gifts is decided, usually between $15 - $25 and sometimes even less. The date is agreed upon to make sure the majority of the people will be able to attend. Sometimes the group also decides the theme of the exchange, for example: GAG theme will include Chinese Gift Exchange ideas that are funny, a bit inappropriate and feel more like a rude prank than a gift. A theme could be anything, from food, to alcohol to items at home that we no longer need.
Once the big day comes, guests arrive and join the party. Gifts are brought in and placed in a single pile. After some time, when everyone has had something to eat and drink, names or numbers are drawn randomly to determine the order in which the gifts will be opened. Usually after this is done, everyone gathers around the pile of presents wondering which one they should open first. The player that was assigned #1 during the draw gets to open the first gift. They may open any one they want, but only one.
Next player opens an unopened gift or may choose to steal one from someone who already has a gift opened, in which case the person being stolen from gets to open another unopened gift or steal from someone else again. This process continues until there are no more gifts to be opened. Sometimes the swapping will continue after all gifts are opened. This is a variation in the Chinese Gift Exchange rules that a group may chose to employ.
In the end, when the game is over, the present that each player ends up holding is the one they get to go home with.
Learn The Rules Of Chinese Christmas
In order to plan a flawless gift exchange party, make sure to go over the basic rules and keep in mind that apart from some of the main rules, you can apply a number of optional, fun variations that will extend your party game, make if more fun and memorable. Simply visit our rules page and dive right into it.
Do you have some fun rules that we do not have listed on our site that you would like to share with the rest of the world? This is the perfect time to share it with us, please drop us a message on the contact us page.
Don't Forget The Gift Ideas
Of course you can always shop around locally for your Chinese Exchange gift, but why not explore the options online? The truth is, there are a lot of amazing, funny, cheap and perfectly appropriate gifts that can be easily ordered at your convenience and delivered to your doorsteps just in time for the big night out. Have a look at our gift section and see for yourself!
