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Christmas all over the world
Cultures 16/17
In many countries, special customs and traditions have developed that give Christmas Eve its own
particular charm. In other cultures, it is the turn of the year that is celebrated. Here a selection.
The most important festival for the
Chinese is New Year in the lunar calendar,
a celebration that goes on for days, where
minute attention is paid to the details of
ritual. There are presents, generous gifts
of paper money for the children in red envelopes,
bows and good wishes for the old
and opulent meals. As many as half of a
million Chinese travel during the weeks
before and after New Year, since on no
account should the family get-together be
missed. In the most famous temples in the
country, bells are rung at the turn of the
year, an ancient tradition and an expression
of the wish for harmony for the
coming year.
Thailand: water fight at New Year
The alcohol does not necessarily flow in
Thailand every year from 13th to 15th April
Celebrations of the day – the New Year festival
in Peking.
at their New Year festivities or “Songkran” –
but water certainly does. This is also known
as the water festival, because early in the
morning first the parents in the family and
then the older relatives are blessed with water.
Originally, it was customary to wash the
body clean of things “old” and everything
that had been felt to be negative during the
past year. The custom originates from a
ritual cleaning of the Buddha statues, in
which they were ‘bathed’. Now at New Year,
water is thrown at passers-by everywhere in
the streets – by the bucketful!
Russia: Christmas with Grandfather Frost
In most countries with an Orthodox
church, the Julian calendar is used. Since
it differs from the Gregorian calendar,
Christmas falls on the 6th of January in
Russia. The traditional Christmas meal in
Russia is Kutya, a porridge made of grain
which is served in one large bowl from
which everyone eats together as a symbol
of communion. However, the table is not
properly set until 12 fasting-day dishes
have been set on it. After the Christmas
meal, the family goes to mass together.
Father Christmas, who brings the presents,
is a familiar figure in Russia, too.
Here, he is known as Grandfather Frost.
He comes straight from the North Pole
and is accompanied by a girl, “Snowflake”
and a boy who is “New Year”. On the 14th
of January, the Orthodox New Year, the
Christmas season comes to an end.
USA: Santa Claus and Xmas
Presents are an extremely important
part of Christmas in the United States of
America. The shops are bursting with
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