Christmas Customs
In most people's minds, Christmas is a romantic holiday with snow, Santa Claus, and reindeer. Christmas is celebrated in many countries, but each has its way. Today, let's take a look at how people around the world celebrate Christmas.
Christmas Party
Christmas is an essential event in the world of family, friends and lovers' parties, a time for friendship, family and love. A time to wear Christmas hats, sing Christmas songs and talk about your Christmas wishes.
Christmas Dinner
Christmas is a big celebration and you can't go wrong with good food. In the old day, people might have made their own in a microwave oven, but nowadays people often eat out in restaurants and businesses take advantage of the opportunity to make money from their customers, and of course, there are many Christmas foods, such as gingerbread and sweets.
Christmas Hat
It's a red hat, and it's said that as well as sleeping soundly and warmly at night, the next day you'll find a little more of a gift from your loved one in the hat. On carnival nights it's the star of the show and wherever you go, you'll see all sorts of red hats, some with shiny tips and some with gold glitter.
Christmas Stockings
In the earliest days, it was a pair of big red socks, as big as they could be because Christmas stockings were to be used for presents, the children's favorite thing, and at night they would hang their stockings by their beds, waiting to receive their gifts the next morning. What if someone gives you a small car for Christmas? Then it's best to ask him to write a cheque and put it in the stocking.
Christmas Card
These are greeting cards for Christmas and New Year, with pictures of the story of the birth of Jesus and the words "Happy Christmas and New Year".
Father Christmas
He is said to have been the bishop of Pera in Asia Minor, named Saint Nicholas, and after his death was venerated as a saint, an old man with a white beard wearing a red robe and a red cap.
Every Christmas he comes from the north in a deer-drawn sleigh and enters homes by the chimney to hang Christmas presents in stockings over the children's beds or in front of the fire. So, for Christmas in the West, parents put Christmas presents for their children in stockings and hang them over their children's beds on Christmas Eve. The first thing the children do when they wake up the next day is to look for the gifts from Father Christmas on their beds. Today, Father Christmas has become a symbol of good fortune and is an indispensable figure not only for Christmas but also for celebrating the New Year.
Christmas Tree
It is said that a farmer received a hungry and cold child on a snowy Christmas Eve and gave him a good Christmas dinner. The child broke a branch of a fir tree and put it on the ground as he said goodbye and wished, "This day of the year will be full of gifts, leave this beautiful fir 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 had received a messenger from God. This story then became the source of the Christmas tree. In the West, whether Christian or not, a Christmas tree is prepared for Christmas to add to the festive atmosphere. The tree is usually made of an evergreen tree, such as cedar, to symbolize the longevity of life. The tree is decorated with various lights and candles, colored flowers, toys, and stars, and hung with various Christmas gifts. On Christmas night, people gather around the tree to sing and dance, and have fun.
Christmas Festive Gifts
A gift given to the postman or maid at Christmas time, usually in a small box, hence the name "Christmas Box".
How do countries celebrate Christmas?
1.Christmas in England
Christmas in the UK is the biggest festival in the UK and in the West as a whole. Like the traditional Chinese New Year, Christmas Day in the UK is a public holiday, with all public transport such as the tube and trains stopped and few people on the streets.
The British are most concerned with food on Christmas Day, and food items include roast pig, turkey, Christmas pudding, Christmas mince pies, and so on.
Apart from eating, the next most important thing for the British at Christmas is giving presents. During Christmas, every family member was given a present, as were the servants, and all presents were handed out on Christmas morning. There are Christmas carolers who go door to door singing the good news and they are invited into the house by their hosts to be served refreshments or given small gifts.
In the UK, Christmas is not complete without a Christmas jumper, and on the Friday before Christmas each year, the British people create a special Christmas Jumper Day for Christmas jumpers.
（Christmas Jumper Day is now an annual charity event in the UK, run by Save the Children International, a non-profit organization that encourages people to wear Christmas-inspired jumpers to raise money for children.
2. Christmas in the United States
Because the United States is a country of many nationalities, Americans celebrate Christmas in the most complex way. On Christmas Eve, they place a lot of emphasis on home decorations, putting up Christmas trees, stuffing stockings with presents, eating a turkey-based Christmas dinner, and holding family dances.
Churches across the USA celebrate Christmas with worship services, large and small musical performances, holy plays, Bible stories, and hymns.
The most traditional way of eating is to prepare a turkey and ham with some simple vegetables such as cabbage, asparagus, and soup. With snow falling outside the window, everyone sits around the fire and a typical American Christmas meal is served.
Most American families have a yard, so they decorate it with lights and ornaments. Many streets are decorated with care and attention and become attractions for people to see. Large shopping centers and amusement parks have very grand lighting ceremonies, and the moment the lights go on the Christmas tree marks the start of the annual festivities.
In the USA, gifts are exchanged at Christmas, and it is important to prepare gifts for the family, especially for the children, who are convinced of the existence of Father Christmas.
Before Christmas, parents will ask their children to write a wish list for Santa, including the gifts they would like to receive this year, and this list is the basis for parents to purchase gifts for their children.
Families with a sense of ritual prepare milk and biscuits for Santa, and parents sneak a sip of milk and a couple of biscuits after the children have gone to bed, and the next day the children wake up to the surprise that Santa has come.
3. Christmas in Canada
From November onwards, Christmas-themed parades are staged across Canada. One of the most famous parades is the Toronto Santa Claus Parade, which has been held in Toronto for over 100 years and is one of the largest Father's Christmas parades in North America. The parade features themed floats, bands, clowns, and costumed volunteers.
Canadians are as fond of Christmas trees as the Chinese are of Chinese New Year scrolls and fortune characters. A Christmas tree lighting ceremony is held every year before Christmas. The 100-foot-tall tree is lit up with colorful lights and it's a sight to behold!
If Black Friday is the craziest shopping holiday of the year in the US, there are two in Canada! One is Black Friday and the other is Boxing Day.
Boxing Day, the post-Christmas shopping frenzy, is the most heavily discounted day in Canada and is the offline version of Double 11. Last year at Toronto's O'Reilly, before the mall opened at 6 am, there was a long queue in front of the doors, with people even queuing overnight with tents; the moment the doors opened, shoppers began to sprint a hundred meters in a frenzy, with a fighting force comparable to that of a Chinese ama. In short, in all the major shopping malls, as far as the eye can see, there are only crowds of people; if you want to buy something, you have to queue and queue and queue.
4. Christmas in Germany
Every believing family in Germany has a Christmas tree, and Christmas trees were the first to be found in Germany. Christmas trees and Advent are very important to the German festive season. In fact, many historians believe that the custom of families dressing up Christmas trees originated in medieval Germany.
Traditional German Christmas bread
5. Christmas in France
In the weeks leading up to Christmas Eve, families begin to decorate their homes with pots of flowers and in many cases, a 'Father Christmas' carrying a large bundle is hung in the window to signify that Christmas messengers will be bringing gifts to children. Most families buy a pine or holly tree and hang red and green ornaments on the branches themselves, tying them with colored lights and ribbons and placing a 'cherub' or silver star at the top of the tree. Before they go to bed on Christmas Eve, they put their new stocking on the mantel or in front of their bed and when they wake up the next day, they receive a present in their stocking, which the children believe must have been given to them by their "red-hatted grandfather" while they were asleep.
The French family 'Christmas dinner' is very rich, starting with a few bottles of good champagne and usually, a few appetizers, which are eaten and drunk over small desserts, smoked meats, and cheeses. The main courses are then more complex, such as pan-fried foie gras with port wine; smoked salmon, oysters, and prawns, etc. with white wine; steak, game, or lamb chops, etc. with red wine, naturally; and the after-dinner wine is usually whisky or brandy.
The average French adult, on Christmas Eve, almost always attends midnight mass in church. Afterward, the family goes together to the home of the oldest married brother or sister for a reunion dinner. At this gathering, important family matters are discussed, but in the event of family disagreements, they are then reconciled, so that Christmas is a time of mercy in France. For today's French Christmas, chocolate and wine are definitely a must.
6. Christmas in the Netherlands
On this day, Sinterklaas (St Nicholas) visits every Dutch family and gives them presents. As most Christmas gifts are traditionally exchanged on the night before St Nicholas, the latter days of the festive season are celebrated more spiritually than materially by the Dutch.
7. Christmas in Ireland
Like many Western countries, Christmas is the most important holiday of the year in Ireland, with a half-month-long Christmas break from 24 December until 6 January, when schools are closed for almost three weeks and many businesses are closed for up to a week.
Turkey is one of the essential staples of Christmas night. Ireland's hearty Christmas dinner usually starts with a soup of smoked salmon or prawns; roast turkey (or goose) and ham is the main course, served with stuffed bread, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, or bread sauce; generally, the vegetable is kale, but other vegetables such as celery, carrots, peas, and broccoli are also served; dessert is usually Christmas pudding with brandy butter or wine sauce, mince pies or sliced Christmas cake. At the end of Christmas dinner, the Irish leave some bread and milk on the table and leave the house unlocked as a sign of their tradition of hospitality.
The Irish often weave wreaths of holly branches to hang on their doors or place a few sprigs of holly on the table as a festive decoration. The Christmas tradition of hanging a wreath of holly on the door actually comes from Ireland.
In most countries, the decorations are taken down after Christmas, but in Ireland, they are kept up until after 6 January, when Epiphany (also known as 'Little Christmas') is celebrated.
8. Christmas in Austria
For many children in Austria, Christmas is perhaps the most dreaded holiday of the year.
On this day, the demon Kambus, dressed as a half-man, half-animal, appears on the streets to scare the children, because according to Austrian folklore, during Christmas St Nicholas gives presents and sweets to good children, while the demon Kambus punishes those who do not behave.
When Cambus found a particularly bad child, he would pick him up, put him in a bag and take him back to his cave for his Christmas dinner.
So on this day, the Austrian children are very obedient, because no one wants to be taken away by Kampus.
9. Christmas in Norway
The tradition of hiding brooms before Christmas Eve dates back centuries when Norwegians believed that witches and demons would come out on Christmas Eve to find brooms and do evil, so families hid them to prevent witches and demons from doing bad things.
To this day, many people still hide their brooms in the safest part of the house, and this has turned into an interesting Norwegian Christmas tradition.
10. Christmas in Australia
Christmas in Australia is also unique in that it naturally conjures up images of snowy winter days, gloriously decorated Christmas trees, Christmas hymns in church, and much more.
But Christmas in Australia is something else - gloriously warm sunshine, soft beaches, vast outback, and lush rainforests, the stunning Great Barrier Reef that can only be found in Australia, unique kangaroos and koalas, and the stunning Gold Coast.
25 December is the summer holiday time and Christmas in Australia is traditionally held outdoors. The most popular event at Christmas is caroling by candlelight. People gather in the evening to light candles and sing Christmas carols outside. The twinkling stars in the night sky add a romantic touch to this wonderful outdoor concert.
And apart from turkey, the most common Christmas dinner is a seafood feast of lobster and crab. On Christmas Day, people in Australia surf the waves and sing Christmas carols, and couldn't be happier!
We all know that the traditional image of Father Christmas is wearing a bright red coat trimmed with white fur and black thigh-high boots delivering presents to children in a snowy sky. But in Australia, where Christmas falls in the summer heat, the Father Christmas you're more likely to see is a short, beaten man speeding along on a surfboard. If you stroll down any Australian beach early on Christmas morning, you'll often find at least one surfer in a Santa red hat in the waves.
11. Christmas in Japan
Despite being an Eastern country, the Japanese are particularly keen on Christmas. Whereas usually Western countries have roast turkey and gingerbread for Christmas, in Japan the Christmas tradition is for families to go to KFC!
Every year, KFC shops in Japan offer a variety of Christmas packages, and at this time of the year, KFC Grandpa, who has been transformed into a kind and friendly Father Christmas, delivers blessings to the people.
12. Chinese Christmas special: eating apples on Christmas Eve
The day before Christmas is known as Christmas Eve. The Chinese character for "apple" is the same as "ping", which means "peace and safety", so "apple" stands for "peace fruit". This is how Christmas Eve came about.
Christmas is not only an important holiday but also a symbol of the end of the year. Although people celebrate Christmas in different ways around the world, the overall meaning of Christmas is to bring families and friends together.
It is a time to let go of the usual tensions and anxieties, to unpack and return to the tenderest of homes, to count the unforgettable moments of the year, and to start looking forward to a better year.
Dear friends
The holiday season offers us a special opportunity to extend our personal thanks to our friends， and our very best wishes for the future.
And so it is that we now gather together and wish to you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We con -sider you a good friend and extend our wishes for good health and good cheer.
It is people like you who make being in business such a pleasure all year long. Our business is a source of pride to us， and with customers like you， we find going to work each day a rewarding experience.
We tip our glasses to you. Thanks again for a wonderful year.
Yours sincerely,
Dongguan Auschalink Fashion Garment Co., Ltd.
Jiaojie South Road, Xiaojie, Humen Town, Dongguan City, Guangdong Province.
Post time: Dec-14-2022