One way that colleagues in Britain show their appreciation of each other at this time of year is by doing a 'Secret Santa' present giving. Secret Santa is when people who work together buy each other gifts without saying who they are from.

Co-workers all write their name on a piece of paper and then stage a lottery in which each workmate takes another colleague’s name at random. Each person then has to buy a present for the colleague whose name they have picked, usually with an agreed budget set at a small amount of money such as five or ten pounds (50 or 100 yuan).

As the gifts are given anonymously, the quality of presents can vary greatly; in an internet survey of Secret Santa presents, gifts that people received ranged from tickets to the opera to an air-freshener hanger for a car.

Another common seasonal workplace tradition is the office Christmas party, when workmates put on their most glamorous outfits and take advantage of a plentiful supply of free booze.

While most parties go off without a hitch, sometimes the effects of alcohol cause party-goers to regret their drunken antics.

The BBC invited people to share their most embarrassing Christmas office party stories, and received hundreds of funny stories, such as the man who split his trousers back to front with his extravagant dance moves or the tipsy lady who spent the entire night with back of her dress tucked into her pants and saw the photos that proved it later at work.

But the worst story must surely come from Stuart Vaines, who got so drunk he dunked his boss’s head down the toilet. Unsurprisingly, he was fired the very next day.