People in China celebrate Christmas by lighting their houses with
beautiful paper lanterns and decorating their Christmas trees,
and children hang their stockings and await a visit from “Christmas Old Man- 圣诞老人”,meaning Santa Claus. However, since the majority of the Chinese people are not
Christian, not a lot of people celebrate Christmas, and instead, Chinese New
Year is the main winter festival.
Christmas in France is a very important festival.
It is a time for the whole family to come together to celebrate
their holidays and worship together.
There are many Christmas markets throughout France during the season.
On Christmas day, most people display a Nativity scene or crèche at home.
The Christmas tree has never been commonly popular in France,
but people make a traditional Yule log-shaped cake called the buche de Nol,
meaning Christmas log. They eat this cake and other feasts during Le rveillon,
which is the huge-late night supper held after midnight mass on Christmas Eve.
French children leave their shoes by the fireplace
to be filled with gifts from Pere Noel.
The Virgin Mary is the country’s patron saint,
and the Christmas season officially begins on December 8-
the feast of the Immaculate Conception.
It is celebrated in front of the Great Gothic cathedral in Seville
with the ceremony called los seises, or ‘dance of six’.
Christmas Even in Spain is called ‘Nochebuena’, or ‘The Good Night’.
During Christmas Eve, all family members gather together to rejoice and
feast around the Nativity scenes.
The children of Spain receive gifts on the feast of the Epiphany.
and they put star or colored poinsettias outside their homes.
Also small clay oil-burning lamps are sometimes used as Christmas decorations
(they are placed on the edges of flat roofs and on the tops of walls).
Churchesare decorated with poinsettias and lit with candles
for the Christmas Evening service.
(Star or colored poinsettias outside people’s homes)
In the USA, the Christmas season traditionally begins just after
the Thanksgiving holiday on the fourth Thursday in November.
It is a religion holiday, but Christmas has also become
a very commercial and secularcelebration.
People go shopping for Christmas and attending holiday parties
during the Christmas season. People in US decorate small evergreen tree
with colored lights and bright ornaments in their home.
In Christmas morning, children find their gifts under their Christmas tree.
And many people exchange Christmas Cards or Holiday cards during this season.