Christmas is big in the Philippines, the only predomindantly Christian country in Asia. Filipinos — wherever they may be found — celebrate the longest Christmas season in the whole world. The Christmas tree is common everywhere in the world where Christmas is celebrated, but there’s something else that dominates the Christmas festivities than a Christmas tree — the parol. The star-shaped parol, or Christmas lantern is distinctly Filipino, having been created in the early 1900s by a Filipino artisan. When the Spaniards occupied the Philippines and spread Christianity in this part of the world, the parol was used to light up the way leading to the church. Simbang Gabi, or misa de gallo, is celebrated at dawn (yes, dawn, not the midnight as practiced anywhere else, because the Philippines was primarily agricultural, and farmers sleep early at night and wake up early at dawn). There’s a more distinctly Filipino creation — the Christmas tree created from the star-shaped parol. Here, look at this photo by Earl Masangkay (check his Instagram acount, @earlmasangkay, for more photos). “Probably the best christmas tree I have seen thus far,” says Earl. We couldn’t agree more. Onli in da Pilipins. Awesome! Click the photo to enlarge.

Photo reproduced with permission (thanks). [Tag your instagram Philippine travel photos with #visitpinas so we can track it down. Photos will be featured in this blog’s photo of the day and in instagram/VisitPinas.]