Christmas
Christmas is a holiday celebrated every year on December 25, which commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ more than 2000 years ago. It is celebrated as a major festival and public holiday in countries around the world, including many whose populations are mostly non-Christian. Colored lights decorate many town centers and shops, along with shiny decorations, and artificial snow painted on shop windows, Christmas trees are decorated with lights and ornaments. Shopping centers become busier as December approaches and often stay open till late. People give gifts and post Christmas greeting cards to their friends and family, and Children wait excitedly for Santa Claus toarrive on Christmas Eve and leave presents under the Christmas tree. Christmas has become known as time for family gathering.
The official Christmas season is popularly known as the Twelve Daysof Christmas. It extents from the anniversary of Christ’s birth on December 25th to January 6th, which honors Jesus’ baptism and the arrival of the Three Wise Men. No one know exactly when Jesus Christ was born. For many years, local Christian churches celebrated Jesus’ birth at different times. Then, in the AD 300s, the Roman Catholic Church set the birth date at December 25th by voting (谁能想到，居然是投票选出来的，所以不一定是摩羯座).
Nowadays, many celebratory customs associated with Christmas are still observed by ordinary people at family level around the world. Popular customs of the holiday include:
sending Christmas cards (manypeople send cards depicting some aspect of the birth of Christ)
having a Christmas trees (A tradition introduced from Germany in the late 19th century. Some people will purchase real tress while other sprefer artificial trees. The real trees are usually pine（松树）or spruce（云杉） )
decorating with ornaments, mistletoe（檞寄生）and holly（冬青）(mistletoe was thought to be a symbol ofpeace dating back to the Romans. Holly is also a popular Christmas decoration. Itssharp pointed leaves are considered a symbol of Jesus’ crown of thorns. Other traditional decorations include bells, candles, candy canes, stockings, wreaths, and angels.A star traditionally sits at top of a Christmas tree and is said to have guided the three Wise Men on the holy night when Christ was born.)
Santa Claus (or Father Christmas is based on a real person, St.Nicholas, a Christian leader in the 4th century. It is said that Santa Claus lives near the North Pole, and arrives through the sky on a sledgepulled by reindeer. He comes into houses down the chimney at midnight and places presents in socks or bags in from of the family Christmas tree for every child who’s tried to do their best. Customs in the giving of gifts vary fromfamily to family. Since nowadays many houses no longer have a working chimney,many children lay out a Christmas stocking at the foot of their beds, fulfillingtheir expectation on getting gifts)
exchanging gifts (most families lay out wrapped presents, around or underthe Christmas tree, and these are opened at the same time on Christmas day. Theexchanging of gifts is one of the core aspects of the modern Christmas celebration)
singing Christmas Carols (it symbolized the Angel’s Announcement of Christ’s Birth,)
having a Christmas dinner (the traditional menu consists of stuffedtoast turkey/goose with roast potatoes and other vegetables, gravy, Christmas pudding cake, and Eggnog)
There are three Christmas traditions which are particularly British. One is the Christmas pantomime（童话剧）, a comical musical play. The pantomime is usually based ontraditional children’s stories like Cinderella and includes songs and jokeswhen can be enjoyed by people. Another tradition is the Queen’s Christmas message, broadcast on both TV and radio. She usually talks about the year that is ending and expresses her hopes for the future. A third British tradition is Boxing Day（节礼日）, about which we will talk in details later.
（↓视频里用的背景音乐是我最喜欢的圣诞歌曲）
