What are the customs of Christmas? How do different countries celebrat
In most people's minds, Christmas is a romantic holiday with snow, Santa Claus and reindeer. Christmas is celebrated in many countries, but in different ways. Today, let us take a look at how people around the world spend Christmas.
Christmas customs
Christmas Party
Christmas is an indispensable program in the world. There are various PARTYs of family style, friend style and lover style. A good time for friendship, family, love gatherings. Wearing a Christmas hat, singing Christmas songs, and talking about everyone's Christmas wishes.
Christmas meal
As a grand celebration, Christmas cannot be without delicious food. Christmas turkey dinner is a typical main dish. In the past, people might use microwave ovens to make their own meals. Nowadays, people spend a lot of festivals eating in restaurants outside. Businesses will also take advantage of the opportunity to make money from customers, and of course There are many Christmas foods, gingerbread, candy and more.
Christmas hat
It is a red hat. It is said that in addition to sleeping peacefully and a little warmly at night, you will find more gifts from your loved ones in the hat the next day. In the carnival night, it is the protagonist of the audience. No matter which corner you go to, you will see all kinds of red hats, some with shiny tips, and some with glittering gold.
Christmas socks
It used to be a pair of big red socks, any size can be, because Christmas socks are used to hold gifts, children's favorite things, they will hang their socks by the bed at night, waiting for the next morning's collection. present. What if someone sent a car for Christmas? Better ask him to write a check and put it in his sock.
Christmas card
A Christmas and New Year's greeting card with a picture of the Nativity story and the words "Celebrate Christmas, Happy New Year and more.
Santa Claus
It is said that he was originally the bishop of the city of Myra in Asia Minor. His name was St. Nicholas. After his death, he was revered as a saint.
Every Christmas he came from the north on a sleigh pulled by deer, entered the houses through the chimney, put Christmas gifts in socks and hung them on the children's beds or in front of the fire. Therefore, when Westerners celebrate Christmas, parents put Christmas gifts for their children in socks and hang them on their children's beds on Christmas Eve. The next day, the first thing the kids do when they wake up is to look for a gift from Santa on the bedside. Today, Santa Claus has become a symbol of good luck, not only an indispensable figure in Christmas, but also an indispensable figure in celebrating the New Year.
Christmas tree
It is said that a farmer received a hungry and cold child on a snowy Christmas night and let him have a sumptuous Christmas dinner. When he said goodbye, the child broke a fir branch and planted it on the ground and said, "New Year's Eve. On this day of the year, the branches are full of gifts, so stay in this beautiful cedar village to repay your kindness." After the child left, the farmer found that the branch had turned into a small tree, and he realized that he was receiving a messenger of God. . This story became the source of the Christmas tree. In the West, whether Christians or not, prepare a Christmas tree at Christmas to increase the festive atmosphere. Christmas trees are generally made of evergreen trees such as fir and cypress, which symbolize longevity. The tree is decorated with all kinds of candles, colorful flowers, toys, stars, and all kinds of Christmas gifts are hung on the tree. On Christmas Eve, people sing and dance around the Christmas tree and have fun.
Christmas boxing
It refers to the boxing gift that Westerners give to postmen or servants at Christmas, usually in a small box, so it is called "Christmas Box" in English.
How do countries celebrate Christmas?
British Christmas is the biggest holiday in the UK and even in the whole of Western countries. Like the traditional Chinese Spring Festival, Christmas in the UK is a public holiday. All public transportation such as subways and trains are stopped, and there are few people on the streets.
British people pay the most attention to eating at Christmas, and the food includes roast pig, turkey, Christmas pudding, Christmas minced meat pie and so on.
In addition to eating, the British people give gifts at Christmas. During Christmas, every family member has a gift, and so do the servants, and all gifts are delivered on Christmas morning. Some Christmas carolers sing door-to-door to announce the good news, and they will be invited into the house by the host, entertained with refreshments, or given small gifts.
In the UK, it is not a complete Christmas without wearing a Christmas sweater. Every year on the Friday before Christmas, the British people also create a Christmas sweater day for Christmas sweaters.
(Christmas Jumper Day), and now Christmas Sweater Day has become an annual charity event in the UK. This charity event is launched by the non-profit organization "Save the Children" (Save the Children International) to encourage people to wear Christmas atmosphere. sweater to raise money for children.
Christmas in America
Because the United States is a country composed of many ethnic groups, the situation in which Americans celebrate Christmas is also the most complicated. On Christmas Eve, they pay great attention to family decoration, placing Christmas trees, stuffing socks with gifts, and eating turkey-based food. Christmas dinner, family dance.
During Christmas, churches all over the United States will hold worship celebrations, hold many large and small music performances, perform holy plays, tell Bible stories, and sing hymns.
The most traditional way in terms of food is to prepare turkey and ham with some simple vegetables like cabbage, asparagus and soup. It was snowing outside the window, and everyone sat around to light a fire, which was a typical American Christmas dinner.
The American people attach great importance to the festive atmosphere and sense of ceremony, so the decoration before the festival is very important. Most American families have yards, so they will arrange lanterns and decorations in the yard. Many streets have become attractions for people to watch because of their careful decoration. Large shopping malls and amusement parks will have very grand lighting ceremonies. When the lights on the Christmas tree are lit, it marks the beginning of the annual festival.
Christmas in the United States is to give gifts to each other. Preparing Christmas gifts before the holiday is a very important part. Of course, the most important thing is to prepare gifts for family members, especially children, because children are convinced of the existence of Santa Claus.
Before Christmas, parents ask their children to write a wish list for Santa, which includes the gifts they want to receive this year, and this list is the basis for parents to buy gifts for their children.
Families with a sense of ritual will prepare milk and cookies for Santa Claus. Parents will secretly drink a mouthful of milk and eat two biscuits after the child falls asleep. When the child wakes up the next day, they will be pleasantly surprised to find that Santa Claus has come.
Canadian Christmas
Starting in November, Christmas-themed parades will be staged across Canada. Among them, the Santa Claus Parade held in Toronto is particularly famous. The Toronto Santa Claus Parade has a history of more than 100 years and is one of the largest Santa Claus parades in North America. The parade features themed floats, bands, clowns and costumed volunteers.
Canadians' love for Christmas trees is like the Chinese people's love for Spring Festival couplets and blessing characters. The Christmas tree lighting ceremony is held every year before Christmas. The 100-foot-tall Christmas tree with colorful lights will amaze the audience!
If Black Friday is the biggest shopping spree of the year in the U.S., then there are two in Canada! One is Black Friday and the other is Boxing Day.
As the shopping carnival after Christmas, Boxing Day is the day with the heaviest discounts in Canadian stores. It can be said to be the offline version of Double Eleven. Last year, in Toronto's Outlets, before the mall opened at 6:00 in the morning, there was a long queue in front of the door, and some people even queued overnight with tents; the moment the door opened, customers began to sprint for 100 meters frantically, with a combat effectiveness comparable to that of Chinese aunts. In short, in the major shopping malls, as far as the eye can see, only people follow the crowd; if you want to buy something, you have to queue up and queue up.
German Christmas
Every Christian family in Germany has a Christmas tree, and the Christmas tree was the first in Germany. The Christmas tree and Advent are very important to the German holiday season. In fact, many historians believe that the custom of families decorating Christmas trees originated in medieval Germany.
German Christmas traditional bread
French christmas
In the first few weeks of Christmas Eve, every household starts to decorate pots of flowers at home. Many families will hang a "Santa Claus" with a big burden outside the window, which means that the Christmas messenger will bring gifts to the children. Most families will buy a pot of pine or holly, hang red, green and green ornaments on the branches of the tree by themselves, tie them with lanterns and ribbons, and place a "cherub" or silver star on the tree. top. They put new socks on the fireplace or bed before they go to bed on Christmas Eve, and when they wake up the next day, they get presents in their socks, and the children believe it must be when he fell asleep” “Grandpa Red Hat” "Sent.
The "Christmas dinner" of French families is very rich. First of all, each family will open a few bottles of fine champagne. Generally, there are several appetizers. Everyone eats appetizers such as small desserts, smoked meat, cheese, etc. Drink and chat. Then the main meals that come up are more complicated, such as pan-fried foie gras with port wine; smoked salmon, oysters, prawns, etc. with white wine; steak, game or lamb chops are naturally paired with red wine; after-dinner wine is usually whisky or Brandy.
The average adult in France goes to church for midnight mass on Christmas Eve. After finishing, the family goes to the house of the oldest married brother or sister to reunite for dinner. At this meeting, we discuss important matters at home, but when family members are not in harmony, they will be relieved after that, and everyone will be reconciled as before, so Christmas is a kind day in France. And for today's French Christmas, chocolate and red wine are definitely a must at home.
Dutch Christmas
On this day, Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas) visits every Dutch family and distributes gifts to them. Because most Christmas gifts are traditionally exchanged on St. Nicholas Eve, the Dutch are more inclined to celebrate spiritually than materially in the later days of the holiday.
Irish Christmas
Like many western countries, Christmas is the most important holiday in Ireland. The Christmas holiday lasts for half a month. From December 24th to January 6th, schools are closed for nearly three weeks, and many companies also have long breaks. for a week.
Turkey is one of the must-have staples on Christmas night. A hearty Christmas dinner in Ireland usually starts with a soup of smoked salmon or prawns; roasted turkey (or goose) and ham are the main course, served with stuffed bread, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce or bread sauce; usually Say the vegetable is kale, but also offer celery, carrots, peas, broccoli and others; dessert is usually a Christmas pudding with brandy butter or wine sauce, mince pies or sliced Christmas cake. After the Christmas dinner, the Irish have a tradition of keeping some bread and milk on the table and leaving their doors unlocked to show their hospitality.
Irish people often make wreaths of holly branches to hang at home, or put a few holly branches on the table as a holiday decoration. And the Christmas tradition of hanging holly wreaths on doors actually comes from Ireland.
People in most countries remove the decorations after Christmas, but in Ireland they keep them until after the Epiphany (also known as "Little Christmas") after January 6th.
Austrian Christmas
For many children in Austria, Christmas is perhaps the most feared holiday of the year.
On this day, there will be a half-human, half-beast demon Kemps appearing on the streets to scare children, because according to Austrian folklore, during Christmas, St. Sri Lanka will punish those bad children.
When Kramps found a particularly ill-behaved child, he would grab him, put him in a bag, and take him back to the cave for his Christmas dinner.
Therefore, on this day, the children in Austria will be extra obedient, because no one wants to be taken away by Kramps.
Norwegian Christmas
People in Norway will hide their brooms before Christmas Eve. This tradition dates back centuries. At that time, Norwegians believed that witches and demons would come out on Christmas Eve to find brooms and do evil things, so every household would hide brooms. Get up and prevent witches and demons from doing bad things.
To this day, many people still hide their brooms in the safest part of the house, which has become a fun Christmas tradition in Norway.
Australian Christmas
Christmas in Australia is also unique. When it comes to Christmas, people will naturally think of the snowy winter, the bright and beautifully decorated Christmas tree, the Christmas hymn of the church and so on.
But Christmas in Australia is different - bright and warm sunshine, soft beaches, vast outback and lush rainforests, the beautiful Great Barrier Reef, unique kangaroos and Koalas, the charming Gold Coast.
December 25 is summer holiday time, and Australia's traditional Christmas is held outdoors. The most popular activity at Christmas is caroling by candlelight. People gather at night to light candles and sing Christmas carols outside. The twinkling stars in the night sky will add a lot of romance to this wonderful outdoor concert.
In addition to turkey, the most common Christmas dinner is seafood such as lobster and crab. At Christmas, people in Australia are surfing the waves in the sea and singing Christmas songs, not to mention how happy!
We all know that the traditional image of Santa Claus is wearing a bright red coat trimmed with white fur, and wearing high black boots to deliver gifts to children in the snow. But in Australia, because Christmas is in the heat of summer, Santa Claus is more likely to be seen speeding on a surfboard in a bunt. If you stroll down any Australian beach on Christmas morning, you'll often find at least one surfer in a red Santa hat in the waves.
Japanese Christmas
Although it is an eastern country, the Japanese are especially keen to celebrate Christmas. Generally, Western countries eat roast turkey, gingerbread and other foods during Christmas, while in Japan, the tradition of Christmas is to eat KFC as a family!
Every Christmas, KFC stores in Japan will launch a variety of Christmas packages, and at this time, the old KFC grandpa has also transformed into an amiable Santa Claus, sending blessings to people.
Chinese characteristics eat apples on Christmas Eve
The day before Christmas is called Christmas Eve. "Ping" is homophonic with "Ping" in Chinese characters, which means peace and security, and "apple" represents "Ping An Guo", which is why eating Ping An Guo on Christmas Eve.
Christmas is not only an important holiday, but also a symbol of the end of the year. Although people around the world celebrate Christmas in different ways, in general the meaning of Christmas is to bring family and friends together.
On this day, people let go of their usual tension and anxiety, unload their arms, return to the most tender family, count the unforgettable moments of the year together, and begin to look forward to a better new year.
