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Podcast Transcript
大家好，欢迎回来MaoMi Chinese。祝大家圣诞节快乐，新年快乐！
圣诞节是西方的节日，不是中国的节日。但是你们知道吗，其实在一百多年前，就有一些人在中国庆祝圣诞节了。今天，我们一起来聊一聊圣诞节在中国的历史吧！
十九世纪九十年代，因为战争，中国有一些地方是租界，租界，也就是暂时给外国人住的地方，concession。比如，当时的香港，是英国的租界，当时的上海，也是英国、法国和美国的租界。在那个时候，圣诞节还是很新鲜的事情。1892年的圣诞节，刚好是星期天，有几千个上海人都在看租界庆祝圣诞节。因为很新鲜，所以有人说那一天比中国新年还热闹。
1978年，中国改革开放，中国决定向世界开放，西方文化和节日在中国越来越流行，也越来越多中国人开始庆祝圣诞节。现在中国的圣诞节，其实更像一个买东西和聚会的节日。很多商店、商场、饭店会打折，很多城市的广场也会放上圣诞树。人们不会像西方人一样吃圣诞晚餐，但是他们会出去和朋友一起吃饭。
还有一个很有意思的圣诞活动，那就是在平安夜，人们也会送苹果，因为“苹果”的“苹”和“平安”的“平”听起来一样，所以人们给家人朋友送苹果，是希望家人朋友平安。
在你的国家，你们是怎么样庆祝圣诞节的呢？欢迎在评论告诉我们！
Hello everyone. Welcome back to MaoMi Chinese. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!
Christmas is a western festival and not a Chinese festival, but do you know that in fact about 100 years ago, there were some people celebrating Christmas in China. Today, let’s talk about the history of Christmas in China!
In the 90s, 19th century, because of wars there were some places in China that were concession/ foreign settlement. For example, Hong Kong at that time was the English concession and Shanghai at that time was the concession of the UK, France and America. At that time, Christmas was still something very new. On Christmas of 1982, which happened to be Sunday, there were thousands of Shanghai people going to see how Christmas was celebrated in the concession. Because it was very new, some people said that day was even more lively than Chinese New Year.
In 1979, when China started its economic reform, China started to open itself to the world. Western cultures and festivals then started to get more and more popular in China and more and more Chinese people started to celebrate Christmas. Nowadays in China, Christmas is actually more like a festival about shopping and having a party. Many shops, supermarkets and restaurants would offer discounts, and in many cities, Christmas trees would be placed. People don’t eat Christmas dinner like western people, but they would hang out with friends and eat out.
There is also an interesting Christmas activity, which is on Christmas Eve, people would give out apples. Because 苹 in 苹果（apples） sounds the same as 平 in 平安(safe/secure). Therefore, people would give apples to their families and friends, wishing safety and happiness to their families and friends.
How do you celebrate Christmas in your country? Please tell us in the comments!
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