Crystal trees, floating trees and other Christmas trees from around the world

A Christmas tree is something no New Year celebration can be without. The main Christmas tree in Moscow is displayed on Cathedral Square by the Kremlin

The Saint-Petersburg’s Christmas tree stands on Palace Square

Ukraine’s main Christmas tree has also been lit up on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square)

New-York’s main Christmas tree is a 20-meter high beauty placed by the Rockefeller Center. The skyscrapers surrounding it dwarf its height. The avenue leading up to the tree is decorated with glowing statues of angels

The top of the tree is adorned with a crystal Swarovski star; there is a skating rink at its trunk

Washington’s Christmas tree stands opposite the White House

Europe’s most prominent Christmas tree stands on Strasbourg’s central square, adorned with thousands of colored lights. For several centuries Strasbourg and Alsace have been leaders in celebrating Christmas and the New Year. It was in Alsace that the tradition of decorating a Christmas tree with ornaments was born back in 1521. And not far from Strasbourg is Saint-Nicolas-de-Port, where the cathedral is home to holy relics of Saint Nicholas. In this part of France, since the Middle Ages the image of Saint Nicholas has been merging with that of Santa Claus. That’s why the modern world owes so much of this merry and colorful holiday to Alsace

The Christmas tree on Trafalgar square in London. Traditionally, every year the people of Norway give it as a present to Britain, in gratitude for the help it provided during Word War II

London hosted the Norwegian Royal family, while British soldiers fought to free the country from Nazi occupation. The 80-years-old and 20-meters tall Christmas tree is adorned with vertical garlands of tiny electricity-saving lightbulbs

Berlin does not have a main tree. Each square has one of its own, and many balconies are decorated with little trees as well

A Christmas market and tree in a German city of Chemnitz

The Puerta del Sol square, where every New Year’s Eve thousands of Madrid residents and tourists gather to drink a flute of champagne and eat 12 raisins before the clock atop the city hall tower strikes midnight, is home to 33 meter tall Christmas tree

The Christmas tree erected on Tiananmen Square in the very heart of Beijing

The most beautiful Christmas tree this year, people say, is the crystal tree that stands in the center of Beijing at the entrance to the twin LG Towers

The Christmas tree on 9 de Julio Avenue in Buenos Aires. When the clock chimes, announcing the arrival of the New Year, custom holds that one should eat 12 raisins, accompanying each with a wish for oneself or someone else. Anyone aspiring to travel should run round a table with a suitcase three times. The end of December in the Southern Hemisphere is the height of summer

The Christmas tree in Rio de Janeiro stands 85 meters tall. It is in the Guinness book of records as the world’s tallest floating Christmas tree

In India a Christmas tree often stands alongside a palm tree