Qingpu Prison, the only prison holding expat convicts in Shanghai, held a special Christmas celebration yesterday for foreigners who have to spend the holidays behind bars.

The one-day celebration started with a knowledge contest entitled "the passion and charm of China" yesterday morning. All foreign inmates in the prison were asked to answer questions about Chinese history and geography, such as which Chinese city is the oldest and what is the name and location of China's porcelain capital.

The contest doubled as the final evaluation for the foreign inmates' three-month Chinese geography course. Prize winners will be awarded small gifts and "merit points" - awards convicts can accumulate to exchange for a reduction in their sentences, prison officials said.

"We want to take the opportunity to make inmates enjoy their traditional holiday, as well as livening up the living and study environment here," said Zhang Xiaoping, the prison brigade director.

Currently, 33 foreigners from 16 countries are being held in Qingpu.

The institution also held an exhibition of inmates art and a basketball game between prison officers and foreigner inmates, with the inmates beating the guards.

A karaoke contest in the afternoon was another highlight of the special Christmas celebration. Eleven inmates from six countries sang songs in either Chinese or their mother tongues, with prison directors dressed like a Santa Claus to distribute Christmas gifts to convicts.

"It's unbelievable that I still have the opportunity to enjoy the Christmas and our own culture here," said J.M. Happy, 55, a Cameroonian inmate who was sentenced to 12 years for fraud in 1997.

Expat convicts were also allowed to make phone calls to their home country after a huge Christmas party in the evening.

(Shanghai Daily December 25, 2004)