Christmas in China
It is both interesting and inspiring to see how different people spend Christmas around the world. The wonderful thing when learning about different Christmas traditions around the world is the chance at finding and adding another family tradition from a different Christmas around the world.
There will be slight variations to some familiar Christmas traditions around the world and other customs and celebrations from a Christmas around the world that are completely new. In China their Christmas celebration includes the lighting of the houses with lovely paper lanterns. The Christmas trees in China are called “trees of light” and are decorated with paper chains, paper lanterns and paper flowers.
Children hang muslin stockings in anticipation of Santa Claus who they call Dun Che Lao Rem (Christmas Old Man). As most Chinese are not Christian, the main winter festival is still the Chinese New Year at the end of January, this is when children receive new clothing, festive meals, new toys and enjoy seeing firework displays. Ancestors are worshiped during the Chinese New Year with portraits and paintings hung in the main room of the house.
A great project for you and your family to participate in over the holidays might be to investigate how other people spend Christmas around the world, it’s a wonderful way to familiarize yourself with different cultures and who knows you may find yourself adding paper lanterns to your list of favorite holiday decorations.
