The tradition of welcoming Christmas or New Years with a well-decorated spruce tree indoors or out isn’t a long-standing tradition that began in the 19th century. At that time, the emperors of Russia, the presidents of the United States and the royal family of the United Kingdom all decorated their living rooms with evergreen trees at Christmas or New Years. In the 20th century, this tradition spread all over the world. In our era of rapid technological development, this tradition is quietly changing with the changes of the times.
About 150 years ago, commodities were far less plentiful than they are today. The Christmas tree is mainly decorated with food, such as apples, eggs and various cookies, which symbolize the gifts that can be given to the newborn Jesus. An angel or a star must be placed at the top of the tree, symbolizing the star of Bethlehem that guides the shepherds to the place where Jesus was born, and then 12 candles are placed on the branches to represent the 12 months of the year. The development of industry has changed all aspects of human life, including the traditional way of welcoming various festivals. Now people use light bulbs instead of candles on Christmas trees, and colored glass balls instead of apples.
It would be no exaggeration to say that every country has its own unique way of decorating a Christmas tree. It is popular in the United States to decorate Christmas trees with food, especially red and white mints in the shape of a cane. It is said that this is because the shape is very similar to the Latin letter J, which is the initial letter of the word “Jesus”. Americans generally like to hang other delicacies on the Christmas tree, such as berries, citrus, pastries, etc. Of course, And popcorn. Americans think that decorating Christmas trees on the street with edible ornaments, besides being pretty, has the added benefit of providing food for birds or other wild animals that get lost.
Japanese Christmas trees are dwarfed Pine trees, not spruce trees, are decorated with paper toys according to the ancient Japanese art of origami.
Europeans have their own principles for decorating Christmas trees, the most important thing is to maintain a uniform style when decorating. The traditional method is to decorate with the same type of glass toys, which can be frosted glass balls with gold flecks, small bells or cherubs, and try to keep these decorations in the same color as possible. In contrast, there is an eclectic style that is more imaginative and is to decorate a spruce tree entirely with handmade items. It is also popular among Europeans to decorate the Christmas tree with toys in the shape of a manger, because it is said that Jesus was born in the manger.
This is the case almost every year now. Before winter arrives, businesses have already started to sell supplies for Christmas and New Years. In Europe in September, all kinds of Christmas and New Year items have been listed, whether they are cheap or expensive. In recent years, in addition to some traditional welcome items, some new accessories have appeared, such as buttons, banknotes, socks, etc., and the traditional glass balls have also become flashing in the dark. Germany is the world leader in the production of Christmas tree ornaments. In recent years, CDs have become the most fashionable Christmas tree ornaments in terms of demand.
It has also become a tradition to hold Christmas tree competitions, and this competition is also divided into different categories, such as natural Christmas trees and artificial Christmas trees, separate competitions, indoor Christmas trees and outdoor Christmas trees, and so on.
The tallest man-made Christmas tree in Europe was erected in an old square in Lisbon in 2006, with a steel frame up to 78 meters. The tallest Christmas tree in the world is a Christmas tree in Brazil, which has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for seven consecutive years. The tree is built on a pontoon in the Freitas Lake in Rio de Janeiro, and its 2.8 million small light bulbs light up every night. This Christmas tree has become one of the tourist attractions in Brazil. In the past 10 years, a large number of tourists from all over the world come to visit every year. The creator of the record for the tallest indoor Christmas tree is a Chinese. In December 2007, a 36-meter-high Christmas tree was erected indoors at the Shenyang Trade Center in China’s Liaoning Province.
In the development of Christmas tree culture, Switzerland has come to the forefront. The Swiss are always able to capture subtle changes in this area in time. Geneva has held several Christmas tree festivals in a row. The festival starts in December and ends in January of the following year. During the festival, the streets and alleys of the whole city are lined with various spruce trees decorated with flower strings. In the first few years, only local sculptors and artists participated, but in recent years, the number of international participants has increased year by year, so it is more and more difficult to select the winners.
In some countries, due to climate reasons, spruce trees cannot grow or are very rare, and people use other trees instead. The Chinese use dwarf orange trees or orange trees instead of spruce, and the Mexicans use palm trees like in other tropical countries. The New Zealand Christmas tree is a tree with gorgeous red flowers, known locally as the Pohutu Kava tree, which belongs to the Myrtle family. December is the flowering season for this tree, as December is summer in the southern hemisphere. At that time, residents of the island nation will also hold a competition between cities to decide which city has the most beautiful flowers in the Pohutu Kava tree. But welcoming Christmas with pohutu kava trees is only on the street outside, and in the homes of residents who, like their Australian neighbors, are placing artificial spruce trees made of plastic and using traditional ornament decoration. In Japan, only the wealthy can afford pine trees, so local skilled craftsmen often make Christmas trees out of wicker or bamboo, which are then decorated with small cakes or rice balls. In Africa, people hang ornaments on bobab trees (“baobabs”) to welcome Christmas and New Years, while Vietnamese usually place bamboos to welcome Christmas and New Years. There are special nurseries in Israel to grow cypress trees and distribute them to those in need before the festival.
Of course, artificial spruce trees are now available to anyone no matter where they live, and there are a wide variety of artificial spruce trees in stores. There are even artificial spruce trees inlaid with various gemstones made by senior craftsmen and designers. And you don’t have to go to the store to buy a Christmas tree now, you can order online, pay online, and then the Christmas tree you ordered will be delivered to your house in the best possible way.
But it is worth mentioning that many groups and Christmas tree producers are constantly warning people that artificial spruce trees, like polyester plastic bags, cannot be decomposed for a long time and are difficult to recycle, so they will pollute the environment, while natural trees are organic , You can return to nature after use.
