In Congo the preparations for Christmas begin when the group to prepare the Annual Christmas pagan is chosen. Early in the morning on Christmas day, carolers start walking to and fro the village. They sing popular carols every where, on the streets and in the houses. When they go back home, important for them is to prepare their cloths for the church service. They always wear there the most beautiful cloths that they have.

The most important part of the church service is the love offering. This is the gift that people can gift in honor of Jesus. Everyone who attends the service has to bring his gift to Christ. No one can attend the service without laying down his gift. After the service the people go back to their houses and prepare tables in front of their houses. They invite friends and relatives to share their food with.

In South Africa Christmas is a summer holiday. The summer brings there many flowers and sunny days. The people there celebrate the holiday in absolutely different conditions according to the people who live in Europe, where it is cold winter in December. In stead of snow in the gardens, the South Africans enjoy the beautiful flowers that are in their full pride at this time of the year. On Christmas Eve the carolers make their round. On Christmas morning is held the church service. The houses are decorated with pine branches, and the kids hang up their stockings for Santa Clause.

The Christmas dinner usually is out side and includes roasted turkey or mince pies, yellow rice with vegetables, piper hats, crackers and plum pudding. After the dinner the kids can play out side or the whole family goes swimming and goes back in the evening. Boxing Day is also a public holiday and people usually spend it out side. This is a day or real relaxation there.

This year you can include in your traditional Christmas celebrations something new. It will make your holiday funnier and more interesting. In the German traditional celebrations there are many interesting thins which you can try at home.

In Germany on December 21st, which is the shortest day of the year is celebrated the day of St. Thomas. On this day the member of the family who gets up last in the morning is called the Thomas Donkey. Through out the day the rest of the family can joke and ask the Donkey to do many and not so favorite tasks to do. At the end of the day the family usually has iced current buns and the abuses over the Thomas Donkey ends. This is really funny for most of the kids, because usually the Donkey is one of their parents or bigger brothers and sisters, who love sleeping till lunch. 

Popular German tradition around the world is the Christmas tree presentation. In this country the tradition says that it is not allowed the family members to see the decorated tree before Christmas Eve. On this day the father usually plays with the children in other room, while the mother decorates the tree with fruits, hand made ornaments, cookies and candies, lights, angels and other traditional Christmas ornaments. Then is the time when she places and the gifts under the tree.

On the table the mother places decorative plates with fruits, nuts, chocolates and cookies. When the kids hear the ringing bell, they can come in the room and the celebrations can begin. Then the father reads popular Christmas stories and the family sings Christmas carols. At the end of the evening the kids can open their gifts.

Also in Germany is believed that if you do not eat enough and good food, the bad demons will be around you. So always prepare the best food that you can and have a wonderful time together on Christmas.

Many people want to know how the people in China celebrate Christmas. The Chinese New Year celebrations are world wide famous, because the New Year is much more popular holiday.

In China Christianity is not very popular and around twenty years ago, if you have been there at this time of the year it was difficult to see sighs of Christmas. But in this modern world now in China you can see Christmas decorations every where. No matter if you are in the big cities or in smaller towns.

In China people celebrate Christmas by lighting the houses with nice paper lanterns, candles and garlands. The Christmas tree is called “Tree of light”. It is usually decorated with paper flowers, paper lanterns and paper chains. Waiting for Santa Clause the kids hang their socks near the fire place. Santa Clause is popular as Dun Che Lao Ren which translated means “Christmas Old Man”. In the major cities as Beijing and Shanghai, where more foreigners are settled, you even can see people singing Christmas carols. The rest of the Chinese people do not understand the main meaning of Christmas but even among them the Jingle Bells song is popular.

If you are among Catholic community, you can go together to the nearest Catholic Church service at midnight if the religion tradition is important for you. Every year the popularity of midnight Christmas mass grows up.

Christmas is not a legal holiday in China, but the most loved part of the holiday - gift giving is very popular among the children and their parents. It is a sign of love and respect to give presents for your friends their. Under the “Light Tree” the parents put the gifts and the happiest moment for the kids in the Christmas morning, when they can see what they have got.

In Bulgaria people celebrate Christmas according the Christian Orthodox traditions. They sing carols, prepare special food and other things connected with their history.

Still many people do not eat any animal products like meat, eggs, milk and cheese, during the forty days of Advent. Fasting ends on the Christmas day and after forty days the meat products come back to their meal. It is also believed  tat Mary bore Christ on Christmas Eve but announced that on the next day to the world (December25th).

On Christmas Eve in Bulgaria is prepared special dinner which consists at least twelve dishes, but all without meat as we already mentioned. Each dish represents a month of the year. The traditional meals are prepared with beans, dry nuts, dry fruits and etc.

Christmas in Bulgaria is known as Koleda and Koleduvane is a custom where young boys dressed in traditional costumes sings songs and spread Christmas cheer around the houses in the village. The songs are for wealth and health to the hosts. This tradition is still practiced in many villages, but it is not in the bigger cities. The woman in the house on the previous day prepare ring shaped cakes, called kolache and give each boy one. The boys come with long sticks and put the kolache on it. It is popular to give the koledari money, wine and so on.

 On the Christmas dinner is prepared similar cake and a silver coin is inserted into. It is believed that the person who finds it will be strong as the silver, the love and good fortune will be with him all year. Christmas in Bulgaria is celebrated three days. On the third day, which is called “Stefan’s Day” the people with the names Stefan, Stefka celebrate their name day and welcome guests.

This time of the year, when the shops and the media displays banners and promotions wishing us “Mary Christmas”, people meet and greet with the same words. But many people prefer speaking and writing the short “Merry Xmas”. For some people it is a way to remove Christ from the celebrations. Others just proffered it a shorter form of “Merry Christmas”. But using this short form, we do not have to forget that the main reason to celebrate Christmas is the Birth of Jesus and the events that surround the time.

Many Europeans in the 16th century, as shorthand of Christ name, started using X. That comes from the Greek letter X, which is the first letter of the word “Christos” in Greek language. You can still see such abbreviations in many Christian Orthodox churches on icons depicting Christ. Some people even believed that X represents the cross on which Christ was crucified, but that can not be proved, because the shape of the Christ’s cross was more like T, not X. But the time passed and many people lost the main meaning of Xmas. That is how, it became a sing of disrespect, from the people who doesn’t know its origins.

In our days the Christmas has become very commercialized. With the parties, decorations and the stress around the holiday we sometimes really forget what we are celebrating. This is a magical time and we have to be grateful for all the good things that we have in our lives.

Christmas is a new holiday in Japan. The people in this country start celebrating the holiday in the beginning of 20h century but it is sure to keep on going.
There are two very important customs for the Japanese. The daiku means great nine and refers to the Beethoven’s ninth symphony. At Christmas times it is performed in huge masses of choruses. The other special Japanese custom is thee Christmas cake. It is not homemade but Christmas in Japan will be not the same without it. The main meal at Christmas night is turkey.

In Japan the Christmas trees are not widely spread yet, but more often you can see the artificial ones in the people houses. The most popular ornaments are the “origami swan”, but people use also small toys, lanterns, paper ornaments and dolls. It is believed that the Christmas tree in a hospital will lift the spirits of the sick. To decorate their houses and public places, Japanese people use mistletoe, evergreen, lights and tinsels. They place an amulet for good luck on their front doors.

A few weeks before Christmas the shops are over crowded as they as and in Europe and USA. They display appropriate gifts for adults but mostly for the kids. On Christmas day the family gathers with friends and relatives and they exchange their gifts. If the family has a Christmas tree, they place the presents under the tree to surprise the children. Santa Clause in Japan is known as Santa Kurohsu. He is a popular character but doesn’t appear in a person. He is only pictured as a very kind, old man with big sack on his back. Many kids believe that Santa has eyes on his back too, so he can watch if they have been good.
The Christians who are less than 1% in Japan and the Christian tourists can go to a church in the neared Sunday before Christmas. In many Japanese homes can be heard Christmas carols. The most popular one is “Silent night”.

In India Christmas is celebrated with gaiety and unique Indian flavor. After the long colonization, the European traditions are become inseparable part of the Indian culture.

Many people in this country decorate their homes with a growing star and Christmas tree. The climate disagrees with the traditional white Christmas but the Indians decorate the trees with cotton snowflakes, candies, lights and stars. In the educated families, the singing of Christmas carols and sending of Christmas cards are very popular traditions. The young people make parties or go to restaurants and bars to celebrate. They exchange gifts and Santa Clause brings presents to all good children as he does to the rest of the Christian world. All different parts in the country add their flavor to the Christmas celebrations - with their food, native traditions, games and activities.

In North Eastern Mizomar Christmas is time for community feasting and is known as Lengkhawn Zai. The people there sing soft song, signifying spiritual joy. The people ho live in the plains decorate mango or banana trees at Christmas and with mango leaves decorate their homes. One of the first things that the tourists notice are the sepia leaves in the church decoration. That is because the traditional holly grows in less then 20% of the country.

In South India people decorate their homes with little clay lamps which wicks are twisted to flame longer. Kerala is one of the most favorite destinations in this part of the country and is popular as the God’s own country. It is believed that it was the cradle of the Christian civilization in India, because St Thomas made it the land of his missionary zeal.

The traditional Indian lunch includes roast dick, pork or mince pies. But also the traditional pancakes made of coconut milk and rice flour and mutton stew, murukku, rose cookies, diamond cuts and doughnuts brings the traditional Indian spirit.

It is interesting for people to know how different countries celebrate Christmas.

In Belgium Santa Claus is called de Kerstman or le Père Noël. He comes on Christmas day and bring children presents. At Christmas small presents are given under the tree. People prepare special breakfast sweet bread called ‘cougnou’ or ‘cougnolle’. It is shaped as the baby Jesus.

In Brazil the people have special Christmas meal with ham, chicken, turkey, salad, fresh fruits, rice and drink mainly beer. They call Santa Claus as Papai Noel.

In France the Christmas meal is very important. The family gathers with good meal and wine. The people decorate their Christmas trees with old fashioned red ribbons and white candles. Christmas is known as ‘Noël’ and father Christmas is called Père Noël.

In Germany many houses are decorated with electric candles on the windows and with beautiful plastic or paper pictures. Very often you can see an ‘Adventskranz’ which is a wreath of leaves with four candles. It is a symbol of the 4 weeks before Christmas. Each Sunday a candle is lit. Very popular are the little wooden ‘cribs’ which are small models of the stable where Jesus was born, baby Jesus, Joseph and Mary. Father Christmas is called ‘Der Weihnachtsmann’. He brings presents in the late afternoon on December 24 and leaves them under the Christmas tree. Then somebody form the house will ring with small bell and everybody will come to the room.

In Portugal Father Christmas brings presents on Christmas Eve and leaves them under the tree. The special Christmas meal is cod-fish with boiled potatoes. It is eaten at midnight Christmas Eve. In Romania on December 25, the families attend church and eat stuffed cabbage for lunch.

In Russia Christmas was not celebrated through the Communism. New Year was more important.. Father Christmas was known as Father Frost. After the fall of Communism Christmas is celebrated on December 25 or on January 7th. January 7th is unusual date but the Russian Orthodox church celebrates Christmas on the old Julian calendar The special food includes pies, cakes and meat dumplings.