Afghanistan celebrates the spring equinox as New Year's Day; the Jews celebrate the fall equinox as New Year's Day; and the frigid Eskimos have an irregular New Year's Day, celebrating the first time it rains as New Year's Day.
Japan
Japan has a national vacation from December 29 to January 3 every year. The Japanese call December 31st "Daikichi," or New Year's Eve. The night of New Year's Eve, the Japanese call "New Year's Eve", New Year's Eve, they pray to the gods to bless, send away the trouble of the old year, ushered in a beautiful new year, called "the first attainment". At midnight on New Year's Eve, temples in cities and towns ring 108 bells to drive away evil, while Japanese people sit quietly and listen to the "New Year's Eve bells," the sound of which signals the arrival of the New Year. People then leave their seats and go to bed, hoping to get a good dream. On the morning of New Year's Day, family members sit together and tell each other the dreams they had on New Year's Eve, in order to measure good and bad luck. The Japanese call the first day of New Year's Day "Shoichi", and the days 1-3 are "Sangaichi". On the first day of New Year's Day, the younger generation goes to their parents to greet them and then to their friends and relatives to pay their respects. The New Year is also a festival of "eating", and people of all countries eat their own food to pray for good luck. In Japan, on the first day of the New Year, people have a big breakfast of carrots and buckwheat noodles with sugar and drink tsukudani. Thereafter, for three days in a row, they ate vegetarian food as a sign of piety and to pray for good luck in the coming year. Most modern Japanese townspeople have given up New Year's vegetarian uniform habit, instead of "New Year's Eve" to eat a meal of hollow noodles, in order to wish in the new year, health and longevity.
New Year's Day, the Japanese households are often pulled up above the door of a grass rope or a circle woven with grass rope, known as the "note even rope" or "note even decorative". In some cases, some pine and bamboo trees are placed on top, which is called "Kadomatsu". Many company buildings and street entrances are built with pine, bamboo and plum with a novel design, unique pagoda, to celebrate. People will also be cranes, turtles and other symbols of longevity of animal paper cutouts pasted inside and outside the home, praying for peace. At the same time, they also carved a yearly portrait according to the twelve Chinese zodiac signs and gave them to each other. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications also issues a large number of "Lunar New Year stamps" with the symbols of the year on them. Giving New Year's cards to each other, both individually and as a group, has become the most popular form of congratulation, and the Japanese call it "kite-flying," a gesture of deep affection. The person who receives the most New Year's cards is especially happy to feel that the new year is going to be a good one and that he or she is going to have good luck and good fortune. In the New Year, the custom of paying New Year's greetings to neighbors, relatives and friends, and children is still prevalent. The first thing you say when you meet is "congratulations on the New Year".
Egypt
The Egyptians discovered that when Sirius and the sun rose together, the Nile River immediately rose. Egypt to the Nile River rise of this day as the beginning of the New Year, called the "rising water New Year". The Egyptian Krut welcomed the New Year by placing a table in front of the door, with seven or eight plates offering grains of soybeans, lentils, alfalfa and wheat, as well as small shoots of green plants, which symbolized abundance. The more things offered to the gods, the greater the harvest of the New Year. The Egyptian New Year falls in the fall because agricultural production in Egypt begins in the fall.
Around 50,000 BC, the ancient Egyptians had changed from nomadism to farming and settled on both sides of the Nile River, and their agricultural harvest had a great deal to do with whether or not the Nile River flooded. Ancient Egyptians from the long-term observation found that the Nile River flooding time is regular, they will record this time each time on a bamboo stick, from which they learned that the two flooding time between about 365 days apart; also found that when the Nile River, the first rise of the tide came to today's near the city of Cairo, but also happens to be the sun and the star of the sky Sirius rise from the horizon at the same time when. Therefore, the ancient Egyptians set this day as the beginning of the year. This is the earliest origin of "New Year's Day".
India
India from October 31 every year for the New Year **** 5 days, the fourth day for New Year's Day. On the first day of the New Year, no one is allowed to be angry with anyone, much less lose their temper. Some areas of India, the morning of New Year's Day, families crying, everyone's face with tears, they to the passing of the years, life is short, with crying to welcome the New Year, is the lament of life. Some areas of the people to fast for a day and a night to meet the new year, from the early morning of New Year's Day until midnight. Because of this strange custom, India's New Year's Day is known as "crying New Year's Day", "fasting New Year's Day". Indians in the New Year's Day before 5 days, all over the Indian epic "Ramayana", meaning the procession of the Rama, played in the epic heroes and paper giants "battle", "hero" trigger fire arrow, paper giants will be in the audience's cheers in the fire and burned. The paper giants were burned in the cheers of the audience. Before New Year's Eve, all the doors of every house were posted with various beautiful pictures. On the morning of New Year's Day, people carry small refined lamps and red powder packets, and go out to pay New Year's greetings to the elderly and their relatives and friends. After meeting and saying goodbye, they put red powder on each other's foreheads to express good luck and happiness. Young people put red ink into the water gun, shot to friends and relatives, known as "sprinkle red", said auspicious. Indian young people like to meet in the New Year, regardless of familiarity, hand-to-hand combat. The onlookers called the wind to help the wind, often become the object of the girl's pursuit. Indigenous peoples of central India Bohil people, in celebration of the New Year, in the playground erected a smooth thick wooden pole, the top of the pole with a small bag of gifts, the girls holding the Harvest Bamboo pole to try to block the pole climbed to the young man, the young men in the pole under the circle, and efforts to defend the girls on the pole-climber's attack until the pole-climber to capture the small bag until the victory.
North Korea
North Korea, like China, has the custom of putting up windowpane and peach symbols on New Year's Day. North Koreans put up couplets and New Year's paintings in every house on New Year's Day. Some people put the portrait of a longevity star or a fairy on their doors to pray for heaven's blessing, drive away ghosts and give happiness. At dawn on New Year's Day, people stuffed some banknotes into the scarecrows pre-tied on New Year's Eve and threw them to the crossroads to send away evil and welcome the lucky star. At dusk, people also burn the hair of the whole family that has fallen off during the year, wishing the family peace in all seasons. On New Year's Day, Korean women wear new clothes. On New Year's Day, young girls wear a kind of hemp hat called "Boksang" and colorful clothes with floral patterns, and have a swinging competition. They take a tree flower as the target, see who first kicked or bit to win. There is also a competition in which copper bells are hung on a high place and the winner is the one who rings them first. During the New Year, in addition to enjoying fine wine and food, Koreans must also make a kind of glutinous rice with pine nuts, chestnut powder, date paste and honey, etc., steamed into a sweet rice similar to our country's eight treasures to eat, in order to herald the prosperity of the family days as sweet as honey.
Britain
In Britain, the New Year's Day in the Gregorian calendar is not as grand as Christmas, but in the New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, or according to local customs to carry out all kinds of celebrations to show that the old and welcome the new. British late at night on New Year's Eve, often with cakes and wine to visit, they do not knock on the door, went straight into the home of friends and relatives. According to the British custom, after the New Year's Eve, the first person to step into the house, heralding the luck of the new year. If the first guest is a dark-haired man, or a happy, happy and wealthy person, the host will be lucky all year round. If the first guest is a woman with light yellow hair, or a sad, poor, unfortunate person, the host will have bad luck in the new year, and will encounter difficulties and disasters. New Year's Eve in the home of friends and relatives as guests, before talking to the fireplace fire, to rattle, bless the host "open the door to good luck". Most of the New Year celebrations in Britain are held on New Year's Eve, and the "New Year's Eve Banquet" is one of them, which is divided into two categories: "Family Banquet" and "Group Banquet". The banquet usually starts at 8:00 p.m. on New Year's Eve and ends at midnight on New Year's Day. Various kinds of wine, food and snacks are provided for people to drink all night long. At midnight, people turn on their radios and listen to the New Year's bells of the church bells. When the bells ring, people are in a state of jubilation, raising their glasses to toast, cheering, and singing "Daylight of the Past". The "New Year's Eve Ball" is another celebration. By local inns and dances, the night falls. People dressed in festive costumes, from all directions to these brilliantly decorated and lighted dance floor, dancing in the beautiful music, thousands of people, but also gathered to the various squares, around the center of the plaza fountains and Eros elephant, singing and dancing, and enjoy the revelry. Television stations also do live broadcasts in the square, so that the people in the home "to keep the New Year" also **** enjoy the joy.
Germany
Germany's New Year is celebrated for a week. During this period, every household should be set up a fir tree and horizontal tree, between the leaves of the tree tied full of silk flowers, said the flowers like brocade, spring full of people. The Germans climb into their chairs at midnight on New Year's Eve, moments before the New Year's Day, and when the bell rings, they jump out of their chairs and throw a heavy object behind the back of the chair to show that they are shaking off the scourge and jumping into the New Year. Children form bands, dress in new clothes, carry harmoniums and accordions, and parade through the streets playing. Adults are holding colorful flags, followed by shouting and singing, celebrating the New Year, the German women in the New Year to improvise a family theme of comedy sketches. In Germany, there is a New Year's custom in the countryside - "tree-climbing competition", the young men along the bare tree race to climb high, the first place is known as "New Year's hero" to show that the The first place is called "New Year's hero" to show that they will rise higher and higher in the future.
Brazil
Brazilians hold up torches and flock to the mountains on New Year's Day. People scramble to find the golden birch fruit that symbolizes happiness. Only those who defy the odds can find this rare fruit. They call it the "search for happiness". Brazilian villages have a unique custom - is to pull each other's ears, people meet on New Year's Day, must pull each other's ears, to express blessings.
France
France celebrates New Year's Day with wine, and people start drinking from New Year's Eve until January 3rd. The French believe that the weather on New Year's Day is a sign of the new year. Early in the morning on New Year's Day, they go out on the street to look at the wind to divine: blowing the south wind, the omen of wind and rain, the year will be safe and hot; blowing the west wind, there is a fishing and milking harvest; blowing the east wind, the fruits will be highly productive; blowing the north wind, it is the year of the poor harvest.
Switzerland
Switzerland: The Swiss have a New Year's Day fitness habit, some of them go in groups to climb the mountain, standing on the top of the mountain to face the icy sky and snow, singing loudly about the good life; some in the mountains along the long snowy path skiing, as if looking for the road to happiness; some hold stilt-walking competitions, men and women, young and old, and wish each other good health, in the celebration of the ceremony began a few weeks ago, the women were busy making the food that men had made. Weeks before the celebrations begin, women are busy making the costumes worn by the men. People use wood to make elaborate disc-shaped headdresses, some symbolizing houses, some symbolizing bridges and villages. Anyone attending the celebrations dressed as a woman to symbolize wealth and goodness. The masks they wear, with plump cheeks, are made of wax. They have a small flower in their mouths and a "uniform" expression on their faces. The colorful headdresses are decorated with the motto of their ancestors.
Greece
On New Year's Day in Greece, families make a large cake with a silver coin inside. The host cuts several pieces of the cake and distributes them to family members or visiting friends and relatives. Whoever eats the piece of cake with the silver coin becomes the luckiest person in the New Year, and everyone congratulates him.
America
New Year's Eve in the United States, people outside the bonfire party. At twelve o'clock in the night, everyone throws old things into the fire together and burns them, and sings and dances around the fire, reveling until dawn.
New Year's is one of the major holidays celebrated unanimously in every state in the nation. But in the United States, New Year's is nowhere near as festive as Thanksgiving or Christmas. Americans celebrate New Year's. The most lively is the night of New Year's Eve. It is the night when grand services are held in churches everywhere. People gather in churches, streets or squares to sing psalms, pray, bless, repent, and welcome the moment of renewal. At exactly 12:00 midnight, church bells are rung throughout the country. The band played the famous nostalgic song "Safe Journey". In the midst of the music, excited people embraced each other, and even strangers kissed each other. This is how people usher in the new year with the sadness of farewell and the desire for a new life **** together.