Chinese Christmas Traditions

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Christmas is a special period in the lives of many individuals. Christmas is a festival that symbolically represents hope, happiness and mirth. Families get together to enjoy the festival and have feasts and parties. The homes are cleaned and decorated with Christmas lights, wreaths, flowers, and so on. The family love to go out and buy a Christmas tree and decorate it with Christmas lights, ornaments, tinsel, etc. The entire atmosphere is lively and filled with festive fervor. The people all over the world are ready to welcome the festival. Christmas has a universal appeal. Christmas traditions differ from one country to another.

Christmas traditions in China are different from other countries. The Chinese celebrate the festival with gusto. They decorate their homes with branches of evergreen trees, chains made out of bright-colored paper and so on. The Christmas tree is called as "Tree of Light". The tree is decorated with paper lanterns, red paper chains and flowers. The hoses are decorated with large lanterns and pagodas. One can observe the use of red color in the decorations. A lot of parties are held on the Christmas Eve. Family goes out for dinner at the restaurant. Some special dishes are prepared for the festival.

For Chinese, Christmas is not important festival but the Chinese New Year is a significant festival. It falls after Christmas. So the celebrations start with Christmas and come to an end after New Year. The New Year celebrations are for three days. The worship of ancestors and preparing good food are two important parts of New Year celebration in China.

Let's take a look at the Christmas traditions. in China:

There are fireworks seen on the streets of major Chinese cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong. The cities are decorated with large lanterns and have festive look.
Shopping malls are filled with Christmas tree, decorations for both the tree as well as home. It is a tradition to go and shop during this season
Children hang their stockings on the Christmas Eve and wait for Santa to arrive. Santa Claus meets kids and distributes small gifts.
During the Christmas season, New Year is an important day for Chinese people. The people give gifts to each other on New Year day.
The Chinese people gather together to watch spectacular fireworks on the New Year day and light lanterns.
Things like vegetables, tea, rice and wine are offered to earth and heaven on New Year's Day. The Chinese pay tribute to the dead ancestors and pay for the family's well-being.
Due to globalization and retail sector booming, one can see Non-Christians celebrating Christmas through shopping, attending parties and going for dinner with friends and family.
Traditional Chinese food in form of chicken, soup and roasted pork in barbeque is served during New Year meals.