KOREAN NET

A large Christmas tree on Dec. 26 exudes a vibrant holiday atmosphere at Starfield Library of COEX Mall in Seoul's Gangnam-gu District.

By Aisylu Akhmetzianova

Photos = Lee Jeongwoo

Christmas in Seoul starts in November before winter's arrival. Even before Halloween decorations are removed, Christmas lights illuminate places and carols begin to fill the air in the capital.

The holiday in Korea is more a grand festival rather than a religious occasion, a warm time of the year spent with loved ones, families and friends and eliciting an indescribable thrill on the streets and people filled with the Yuletide spirit.

First to prepare for Christmas are department stores and other retailers. Large trees and fancy light shows covering exterior walls grow in both scale and quality every year to symbolize the city.

Lights grow more vivid as night descends to twinkle like a large stage, and people are naturally drawn to snap photos of the year-end scenery.

Even indoors, Christmas is felt at stores. Seasonal fan merchandise fill year-end display shelves, strawberry cakes are wrapped in red ribbons and stollen, Germany's famous holiday fruit bread, is displayed at bakeries. Reservations for cakes flood in a month in advance, showing how the city eagerly awaits Christmas.

Visitors at the annual Seoul Winter Festa on Dec. 14 look around the Christmas-themed Gwanghwamun Market at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul's Jongno-gu District.

Street happenings are also in full swing. The Christmas-themed Gwanghwamun Market, to run through Jan. 4 at Gwanghwamun Square, and the Seoul Lantern Festival brighten the sky along Cheonggyecheon Stream.

The streets feature numerous decorations and photo zones, packed with people until late night. Seoul Plaza Ice Skating Rink, brimming with winter romance, is filled with the sounds of skates cutting through ice and laughter to create a warm scene despite the cold weather.

Another year-end theme is charity. Bells ring in the city as donation kettles and boxes appear, while companies launch their year-end drives for the needy.

Love Thermometer Tower at Gwanghwamun Square epitomizes this spirit by displaying the progress of the fundraising goal in degrees of Celsius.

Children on Nov. 28 slip an envelope with a donation into a charity kettle on Myeong-dong Street in Seoul's Jung-gu District.

The question high on everyone's mind is if snow will fall on Christmas Day. Many Koreans consider a "white Christmas" romantic.

When it snows, fancy decorations shine brighter and ordinary streets turn into scenes from a movie. Though the holiday is held every year, the moments are always special.

aisylu@korea.kr