Christmas decoration bells. A bow is usually used at the top or bottom, and an electric or unlit candle may be placed in the middle. Christmas lights are often used, and they may be hung from door or windows, and sometimes walls, lampposts and light fixtures, or even statuary. Since the 19th century, the poinsettia, a native plant from Mexico, has been associated with Christmas. In North and South America, Australia, and Europe, it is traditional to decorate the outside of houses with lights and sometimes with illuminated sleighs, snowmen, and other Christmas figures. Municipalities often sponsor decorations as well. Christmas banners
Plant Memorial December 4, 1924. Post-1949, the Plant Memorial was vandalized. There is some debate about the origins of the Plant Memorial defacement. Some say the National Red Guards in the 1960s came in an act of xenophobia to tear down what they considered to be an honor to a foreigner. The solid granite obelisk proved difficult to raze entirely and the Red Guard expressed their sentiments by chiseling out every character and letter in the inscriptions. Others have reported the defacement came during the Land Reform Movement in the 1950s. In either case, Xintan, a Chinese community of river pilots and