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China Elevator Stories
Winter, Christmas, and the Threat of War
This year is quite unlike previous years because of the threat of war in Europe.
19/12/2025
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
Dear readers,
we’re celebrating Christmas soon, and winter thus far has been beautiful in Northeast China. It hasn’t been too cold, for me anyway, to go outside, and I have enjoyed spending days outdoors with my children, playing hide-and-seek and enjoying nature on the days they stayed with me.
I grew up in nature and remember spending whole days outside as well—playing in the snow or swimming in a pool or river in summer. We also ran around the countryside, went bobsleighing nearby, often just us kids, or explored a nearby forest, also often just on our own.
I grew up free-spirited, and still am, with a deep appreciation and love for nature. I also enjoy certain conveniences of city life, but if a city is a concrete desert and doesn’t offer any natural spaces, I don’t enjoy living there quite as much.
I had a custody trial hearing in China yesterday, and the decision was made very quickly, thanks to a system that seems to work quite efficiently.
I am going to write about the results in a future post, but the outcome truly surprised me. My custody status has changed—follow me for future updates. I almost had to leave China on short notice because my account was frozen for a year at my ex-husband’s request, and I no longer had access to my income.
I am sharing a few more photos from the city here—Siping in Northeast China—where I currently live.
I have been following the news and hope that my European readers are all doing well. Let’s hope that no major war is going to start anytime soon (or no war at all, since even a small one is already bad enough). I am aware that a NATO Secretary General is unlikely to issue warnings such as the recent one lightly—where he urged member states to prepare for war—since such people tend to have more intelligence information than we do.
I belong to one of the generations in Europe that grew up in peace, and internally, people like me often don’t believe that war could be possible in our home countries, simply because we have never experienced it. We grew up in peaceful times, with the mindset that the Second World War had ended and was over forever. As a result, many of us find it difficult to cognitively reconcile the possibility of war within ourselves.
While it may once have been seen as paranoid to think someone would start a war with Europe, I believe it is now a real possibility. Although I can’t see into the future, I trust that it is truly possible based on the actions Russia has taken—though not all actions could be confirmed as being taken by Russia, they were considered likely in many cases—including sending drones, ships, and jets.
One airport where drones were detected was Munich, which is only a two-hour drive from the places where I grew up (I moved a few times during my childhood but grew up in Upper Austria). Munich is so close that many of my fellow countrymen and women visit from time to time or know someone who lives there.
Mark Rutte has also said that some people don’t feel the urgency to act. I understand where this is coming from, and I can also observe differences in how various countries react to the threat of war. Some have an inherently fast pace and act swiftly, updating their military and spending what is necessary on weapons or other measures needed to keep their country safe. Others believe there is still time, or that war is so unlikely that there is no need to prepare for it—or at least not on a large scale.
Many Germans online have complained about Germany’s spending on weapons and similar measures, but if a war were actually to start, I believe people would complain if the government hadn’t spent enough. While war is never pretty, and neither is the need for countries to buy large amounts of weapons, how is one supposed to defend against an enemy if there is a real threat, if not with weapons?
I am anti-war and always have been, but I am also realistic. If there is a threat of war, a country needs to do whatever is within its means to protect its people from experiencing one of the most horrific things a country can go through—and that is war. At least, it is the most horrific thing I believe a human being can experience, alongside a few others that also rank at the very top.
I wish you all a peaceful Christmas next week, and may another war not start anytime soon—or ever.
What have you been up to lately?