Since the early 19th century, Christmas began to rival Easter as a Christian holiday and family gathering.
According to German tradition, we can find Christmas trees in every household throughout the holiday season. However, the decoration of homes, streets and public spaces isn’t as popular as in the Nordic countries. In Hungary, little Jesus usually brings the presents, while in neighboring Austria the Christkindl brings gifts.
In China, Christian families call Christmas 圣诞节 (Shengdan Jie), which means Holy Birth Festival. They decorate their homes with evergreens, posters, bright paper chains and decorate the Christmas tree with beautiful lanterns, flowers, and red paper chains that symbolize happiness.
Ethiopia follows the Julian calendar, so they celebrate Christmas on January 7. Called Ganna, everyone dresses in white and attends church on that day. Twelve days after Ganna, on January 19, they start their three-day celebration, called Timkat.
Traditionally in Italy, between the first Sunday of Advent and December 24, Italians go to the Christmas markets for gifts and new figures for the manger scene. Families set up their crib or manger scene and gather before the crib each morning or evening of novena to light candles and pray.
Read more about interesting Christmas traditions from all around the world here.