Do you really know how British people celebrate Christmas? Let's take a look today!

Christmas lighting ceremony

The first Christmas event in Britain is usually the Christmas lights! The ritual of Christmas is suddenly there! Christmas lighting is a uniquely British romance. Miss it and you'll have to wait another year.

Starting around mid-November each year, the ceremony marks the beginning of the romantic time of the year in Britain - the Christmas season. All kinds of food and snacks, beer and hot drinks piled up on the street, pedestrians in twos and threes, dancing freely in the music. Britain's larger cities have their own way of celebrating, the biggest is the London area, with loud voices and bright fireworks, tens of thousands of people gathered to count down in unison. Regent Street is the most intense place in the UK Christmas atmosphere, this year's Christmas theme is still "Christmas spirit", the street lights will be lit in turn.

Send each other Christmas cards

The first Christmas card in the world appeared in England more than 140 years ago. Henry Cole, director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, remembered the old custom of visiting relatives and friends before Christmas to express festive greetings. However, time is too late, what to do? He came up with the idea of sending a greeting card. Thus, the world's first Christmas card was born.

The first Christmas cards in the world showed a family raising a toast to the recipient, with the words "Merry Christmas and a happy New Year" printed below. By the 1880s, it was common in Europe to exchange Christmas and New Year's cards on Christmas and New Year's Eve.

When I lived in the village, I could always see my neighbor's grandmother in the backyard. Every time, she greeted us warmly, let her kitten come and play with us, made dessert for us, and said that we were the first Chinese people she talked to. A few days ago, my friend actually received a Christmas card from her at the door.

Christmas market

Christmas market Warm British winter below zero.

In the UK, the Christmas market is also an absolutely must not miss the Christmas carnival. Manchester, England hosts one of the largest Christmas markets outside of Germany, with everything from gluhwein (mulled wine) to bratwurst, traditional handicrafts, perfumes, decorative paintings, designer jewelry and leather goods, and children can even go to a log cabin to listen to Santa Claus tell stories. It is also a bit like the Chinese Spring Festival temple fair.

Like any other Christmas market, there are aromauses/cookies/handmade/craft brews and decorations, bought winter favorites roasted chestnuts, and unexpected roasted marshmallows. Although it is below zero today, the mood has been warm, and every December in the UK is a time to make the most of Christmas.

Although some friends will say that the Christmas market in the UK is like that, everywhere is similar, but for me, the Christmas market is like a "unchanged original heart", "I like some things that will not change for decades and hundreds of years, and occasionally feel that I am still a nostalgic and nostalgic person."

Mince Pies

A beautiful tradition of mince pies on Christmas Eve, a beautiful story. The inside is full of raisins, and the shell is firm and soft and creamy. On Christmas Eve, leave the mince pie, carrots and milk for Santa and his reindeer. The tradition began in the Netherlands, where children leave food and drink in exchange for gifts on St. Nicholas Day.

Then St. Nicholas transformed himself into Santa Claus, and the tradition of leaving food and drink in exchange for gifts spread around the world.

The original mince pie actually had meat in it, so as the name suggests, mince, mince, mince is minced meat, and in the Middle Ages, mince pie was left out for Santa, tiny mince pies, one by one, after all, Santa had to go around every house, How many mince pies does it take to get one mince pie per household, right?

It was not until the Victorian era that mince pie was transformed into a meat-free pie.

On Christmas Eve, Santa drinks milk and eats mince pie, and his reindeer eats carrots. Children leave these three items (mince pie, milk, carrots) to wait for Santa Claus to come to the house and deliver presents.

Christmas pudding

Christmas pudding is a traditional dish at Christmas, and if you trace the history of Christmas pudding, it can be traced back to 1430, or even earlier.

In the early days, Christmas pudding was similar in shape to pie, with the crust made of dough and the filling basically meat or fish. In addition to meat fats, dried fruits from the Levant and Spain are also added. This is because in that period, meat, poultry, and fish are not particularly good preservation methods, very easy to deteriorate, so it is also necessary to add a lot of sugar dried fruit and butter to mix, so as to maintain and extend the preservation time. And this practice was all the rage at that time, very popular.

At that time, Christmas needed to be celebrated for as long as 12 days each year, so it was necessary to prepare meals in advance, and this "meat pie" became an essential food on the Christmas table, precisely because of its long storage time, it could be prepared in advance and then heated and put on the plate for guests to eat, which was very convenient. Later, this pie gradually evolved into today's Christmas pudding.

Turkey

Whether it's Christmas Eve on the 24th or Christmas Day on the 25th, one of the most authentic Christmas traditions for the British or the whole British and American culture is roast Turkey, and dinner without roast Turkey is not Christmas dinner. It is estimated that 10 million turkeys are eaten in the UK on a Christmas Day...... In fact, before Turkey became a Christmas staple, the British ate roast goose, and the rich ate roast swan. It is said that on Christmas Day in 1620, a large number of immigrants from England arrived in the Americas in the Primus Mountain, because at that time there was little else to eat except Turkey everywhere in the mountains, so they had to roast Turkey for the holiday. So in today's British Christmas table, Turkey has become an essential traditional food.

Usually British people will roast Turkey in the belly stuffed with Onions and sage, so that the roast Turkey will be delicious, Complete a typical Christmas staple with garnishes such as pigs in blankets (bacon-wrapped sausage), brussel sprouts and cranberry sauce.

Christmas cracker

The Christmas cracker is a kind of bright colored paper tube used by the British on Christmas Day. Before eating the Christmas meal, they will pull the paper tube and make a small explosion when they pull it open. It often contains a toy, a paper hat, and a joke.

Of course, you can also make your own, and then put some small gifts you choose for friends in it.

Pantomine

The word Pantomime comes from the Greek, the original meaning is pantomime, but now the British pantomime has developed into a kind of stage drama similar to musical, musical and mixed with some acrobatics, humorous jokes, the plot is based on classic fairy tales, so it is also called pantomime. If you see some theatre posters in the UK during the Christmas season, which are painted with fairy tale-themed plays, but the actors are grotesque, and people are cross-dressing, suitable for viewing age 5 and above, then it should be pantomime (short for Panto).

In the UK, taking children or the whole family to the theatre to see the Christmas pantomime during Christmas is an essential entertainment for many people.

The Christmas decorations will be removed in time

While there is no fixed date for Christmas decorations in the UK, there is a deadline for removing them. By the end of the 12th day of Christmas, which is January 5, the British people will have put away all the decorations. They believe that delaying this time may bring them a year of bad luck.