When the Chinese people celebrate the Spring Festival, people in many Asian countries also organize colorful activities to celebrate the Spring Festival and welcome the new year.
North Korea: Chinese New Year is the most important festival of the year, the first day of the year everywhere singing and laughing
In the Korean Peninsula, South Korea and North Korea, the Lunar New Year is the most important festival of the year. In South Korea and North Korea, the Lunar New Year is not called the Spring Festival, but is called Seollal, which means "old first day" or "New Year's Day" in Chinese. The first three days of the first month of the lunar year are legal holidays for the entire nation.
The government of the DPRK has set a three-day holiday from the first day of the first month; during the holiday, festive activities are added to the venues such as theaters, cinemas, and gymnasiums.
During the Lunar New Year, many celebrations are held by the government and the people.
The North Korean people are optimistic, good at singing and dancing, and play is essential during the festival. According to the custom of the DPRK, after paying homage to the New Year in the Spring Festival, the whole family will play together. Women play Yutz, step on the springboard. Children play gyros, fly kites and skateboards. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the streets of Pyongyang, from 4-25 Square to Kim Il Sung Square, are full of men, women and children playing, people singing and laughing, enjoying the joy of the festival.
South Korea: the importance of the Spring Festival is no less than China, especially pay attention to the New Year's Eve
South Koreans attach no less importance to the Spring Festival than China. The country provides three days of vacation for the Spring Festival, the longest vacation in a year. Korea has a strong New Year's Eve flavor.
Koreans must go home to visit their relatives before the 30th day of the year, no matter where they work, no matter how far away from their hometowns, once the Spring Festival, they have to rush back to their hometowns to reunite. Therefore, South Korea also has a "Spring Festival", every year before New Year's Eve, there will be a picture of tens of millions of troops flowing back to their hometowns, to the traffic caused by tension. Korean hotels "30 do not open the door" custom has a long history. Koreans have been very concerned about the New Year's Eve dinner from ancient times, and dining at home.
Korea is very concerned about the New Year's Eve, like many rural areas in China, there is the custom of the New Year's Eve. According to the custom, Koreans can not sleep on the night of New Year's Eve, the whole family clan must stay up with the ancestors to meet the sunrise on the first day of the year. Otherwise, one's eyebrows will turn white. Korea's New Year's Eve dinner is a lot of attention, the most important feature is that the meal is always a traditional diet.
Vietnam: Lunar New Year has a "golden week", the first month of the month is "eat, drink and be merry"
In Vietnam, the Lunar New Year is the most important national holiday of the year, but also the most lively folk traditional festivals. In Vietnam, the Lunar New Year is not called Lunar New Year but Tet Nguyen Dan, or New Year's Day.
According to Vietnam's labor law, the Lunar New Year in Vietnam is celebrated with four days off: New Year's Eve, the first day of the Lunar New Year, the second day of the Lunar New Year, and the third day of the Lunar New Year. In addition, Saturdays and Sundays are switched off. Therefore, the Lunar New Year's vacation **** eight days, similar to China's "Golden Week".
The Lunar New Year in Vietnam begins on the 23rd day of the Lunar New Year on the lunar calendar, and the atmosphere of the New Year continues throughout the first month of the year. In Vietnamese folklore, the first month of the lunar year is the month of "eating, drinking and having fun".
On New Year's Eve, Vietnamese people sit together as a family, eat New Year's Eve dinner, and observe the New Year together. Vietnamese people have the custom of erecting streamers and eating rice dumplings on New Year's Eve. A bamboo pole, trim off the top of the bamboo leaves, hang red streamers and wind chimes on it, and legend has it that the sound emitted when the wind blows will scare away the ghosts. The dumplings are round and square, symbolizing the circle of heaven and earth, and are considered to be a symbol of joy and prosperity.
Flowers are an important and indispensable part of the Vietnamese Lunar New Year. Many big cities organize various spring flower markets and flower shows. Various types of flowers such as yellow plums, peach blossoms, orchids, lilies and sun chrysanthemums add to the festivities.
In Vietnamese (Kinh) homes, three decorations are essential during the Lunar New Year: peach blossoms, kumquat bonsai, and "five fruit pots". In the minds of Vietnamese, peach blossom is a protection from evil and a symbol of luck. The kumquat is a symbol of good luck. The "Five Fruit Pots" are used to enshrine the ancestors.
Mongolia: colorful attire, eating and drinking, singing and dancing
In Mongolia*** and the country, the Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year) is called Tsagaan Sar, which means "White Moon", and it is the second largest festival in Mongolia after Naadam, which tends to be slightly different from the Chinese New Year in terms of time. This year's Mongolian New Year falls on February 8th.
In December 1988, the Presidium of the Great People's Hural of Mongolia decided that the Chinese New Year, or Lunar New Year, would be a holiday for all people, with a three-day vacation.
Historically, the Spring Festival was not a traditional festival of the Mongols, but as more and more Han Chinese came to live in the Mongolian settlements later, the customs of the people changed, making the Spring Festival a festival celebrated by the Mongols and the Han Chinese people **** together. The Mongolian people*** and the country was split from China, so the custom of celebrating the Spring Festival was preserved.
Mongolians put on colorful dresses, bring out the most delicious food, invite their best friends and relatives to their homes, and drink richly scented horse milk wine, sing and dance to their heart's content while savoring fat, tender, hand-scrubbed meat on the occasion of the grand festival.
The Spring Festival is a great time for grassland people to meet and communicate with each other. It is very difficult for them to meet each other in normal times. During the Spring Festival, friends who have been separated for a long time may be able to meet each other at a horse-racing meeting or a wrestling meeting.
Mongolians who grew up in the cities, on the one hand, keep some of their own ways of celebrating Chinese New Year, such as eating hand-held mutton, barbecuing lamb kebabs, singing songs while drinking wine, playing the horse-head qin, and so on. On the other hand, they also celebrate in the same way as the Han Chinese, such as having a reunion dinner on New Year's Eve, meeting relatives and friends, setting off firecrackers, eating dumplings, and dressing children in new clothes.
Singapore: Red lanterns hanging high, two mandarin oranges as New Year's gift
In Singapore, the Chinese make up more than 80% of the total population. Since the founding of the country, its main leaders have been of Chinese descent. Therefore, the importance of the Chinese New Year and the custom of celebrating the Chinese New Year in Singapore is basically the same as that of Southern China.
Singapore's statutory Chinese New Year is a two-day vacation. Together with the change of Saturday and Sunday off, *** four days of vacation.
New Year's Day, Singapore's streets and lanes and business districts removed the Christmas decorations, replaced with the traditional Chinese New Year dress, large and small red lanterns hung high, the New Year's paintings are also posted. Most Chinese families put up a red and gold "Fu" character to express their desire for a happy life.
The Chinese in Singapore celebrate Chinese New Year by steaming rice cakes, posting Spring Festival couplets, and going to the flower market. The most important thing is still New Year's Eve family reunion dinner. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the younger generation pays their elders congratulations and the children get New Year's money from their elders.
Citrus is a must-have New Year's item. Singaporean Chinese must use a small paper bag with two mandarin oranges as a New Year's gift to express "great luck", "two grains of gold" and "good things come in pairs". The host also gives the guests two mandarin oranges in a bag when they say goodbye. The host will also give back two oranges when the guest leaves.
Malaysia: The government organizes grand Chinese New Year celebrations
A quarter of Malaysia's population is Chinese. Chinese Malaysians regard the Chinese New Year as the most important festival of the year. The government has designated the first and second days of the first month as official holidays.
In Malaysia, the New Year is generally considered to be celebrated from the winter solstice to the 15th day of the first month. During this period of time, the blessings of "Congratulations Raya", which is a Chinese word and "Raya" is a Malay word, are heard endlessly. The Chinese and the Malays skillfully blend the two congratulatory words into one, expressing the same voice: "Happy Holidays!" On the 30th day of the Lunar New Year, the whole family eats a reunion dinner together and observes the New Year's Eve. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, people usually stay at home to receive New Year's greetings from relatives and friends of other ethnic groups, such as Malays and Indians, and prepare sumptuous meals - spring rolls, lobster chips, chicken curry, beef curry and coconut rice ...... to entertain honored guests.
The evening of February 10 this year, Malaysia's Ministry of Arts, Culture and Heritage in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur's bustling downtown held a grand Chinese New Year celebrations, the Malaysian people of all races as well as tens of thousands of foreign tourists gathered in the Bukit Bintang Road and the Golden River Plaza, **** celebrating the Lunar New Year festival. Malaysian Prime Minister Badawi, Deputy Prime Minister Najib and the Malaysian Indian National Congress President Samy Welu were present to participate in the celebrations. Badawi delivered a speech on the occasion. He said: Malaysia is a multiracial country, people of different races respect each other, cultural intermingling is the characteristics of Malaysia. He wished the Chinese nation "congratulations and wealth" in Chinese and added the final touch to the "all the best" message written by a local calligrapher with a brush.
The Malaysian Chinese also have an interesting tradition: on the 15th day of the first lunar month, unmarried men and women throw apples at women, and women throw mandarin oranges at men in the hope of finding a good husband or a gentle woman.
Indonesia: Wahid repeals Suharto's ban, Megawati declares Chinese New Year a national holiday
Indonesia has the largest concentration of overseas Chinese in the world, totaling more than 10 million. Nowadays, most of the large enterprises in Indonesia are founded and led by Chinese.
The Indonesian government has made the Chinese New Year an official holiday in 2002, with a one-day national holiday. However, this legal holiday was not easy to come by, and hundreds of thousands of Chinese paid the price in blood.
Although most of the Chinese in Indonesia have joined the Indonesian nationality, their living habits and cultural traditions still retain Chinese characteristics. Suharto massacred hundreds of thousands of Chinese after he staged a coup to overthrow the legitimate President Sukarno in 1965. Suharto's military regime banned the Chinese from publicly celebrating the Chinese New Year and Lantern Festival in 1967, and Chinese Indonesians were deprived of their legitimate rights for more than 30 years. It was only after Wahid, who is of Chinese descent, became president that the ban was formally repealed on February 18, 2000, recognizing Confucianism as a legitimate religion in Indonesia. On the same day, the first Chinese New Year party was held in Jakarta in more than 30 years, and President Wahid attended the party and delivered a speech. on February 17, 2002, the then President Megawati (Sukarno's daughter) formally announced at a general meeting of the Chinese celebrating the Chinese New Year of the Year of the Horse in Jakarta that the Indonesian government had decided to designate Chinese New Year as the country's national holiday and congratulated the majority of the Chinese on their Happy Chinese New Year.
Prior to the Chinese New Year this year (Year of the Rat), Indonesia's largest English-language newspaper, The Jakarta Post, devoted a four-page special section to the Chinese New Year in a comprehensive and illustrated manner. In addition, major Chinese-language newspapers in Indonesia, such as the International Daily News and the Indonesian Business News, also reported extensively on activities celebrating the Chinese New Year in different parts of the country during the Spring Festival.
On the eve of the Spring Festival, major shopping malls in Indonesia elaborately decorated their Chinese-style pavilions to welcome the Spring Festival, hotel restaurants launched Chinese gifts and New Year's Eve dinner sets, Chinese temples were painted, lanterns were hung high, and believers worshipped with devotion. Former President Wahid and serving government dignitaries participate in Jakarta's big Chinese New Year celebrations every year.
Philippines: President congratulates Chinese on Chinese New Year, declares it a national public ***** holiday
Most people in the Philippines believe in Christianity. Chinese make up about 12% of the national population of the Philippines. In recent years the Philippines has also enjoyed the Chinese New Year. The Philippines made the Lunar New Year a national public **** holiday in 2004, but there is no vacation. Only Chinese schools have two days off on Lunar New Year's Day and the first day of the Lunar New Year.
On the eve of the Chinese New Year in 2002, Philippine President Arroyo signed a special message of congratulations to the Chinese, becoming the first Philippine president in history to sign a congratulatory message on Chinese New Year. In addition to expressing his congratulations to the Filipino Chinese for the holiday, President Arroyo also said something very characteristic of Chinese culture: "I am a pig, and according to Chinese tradition, people who belong to the pig will have good luck in the year of the horse."
On Jan. 11, 2004, Arroyo announced that Feb. 9, this year's Chinese New Year, would be designated as a special national working holiday to celebrate the Lunar New Year. In the proclamation, Arroyo noted, "This is to promote cultural understanding and integration and to give Filipinos the opportunity to celebrate the holiday with all Chinese." Although the Chinese New Year has been declared as a special working holiday, employees in the private sector and government workers, except for the Chinese community, will still go to work on Feb. 9 without overtime pay.
Every year since 2004, Chinese Filipinos have been celebrating the traditional Chinese festival in a more festive atmosphere than ever before, with some political dignitaries also taking part in the Spring Festival celebrations.
Thailand: Princess and government officials hosted the Spring Festival celebrations
Thailand, in addition to the government departments and banks will be open for business as usual, the first three days of the Spring Festival holiday.
The Chinese in Thailand have always retained their own customs and habits, such as the Spring Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and other festivals. Every year on New Year's Eve, each family holds an ancestor worship ceremony, and then the whole family sits around for a reunion dinner. On the first day of the year, everyone put on new clothes, relatives and friends pay tribute to each other, the customary arch hands together, each other to "good luck".
Thailand's most Chinese New Year atmosphere to Bangkok's Chinatown - Chinatown. During the Chinese New Year, there will be lion and dragon dances in the streets. Key officials from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration will travel to Chinatown around New Year's Eve to host a series of celebrations. Princess Sirindhorn often visits Chinatown on New Year's Eve or the first day of the year to host high-profile Sino-Thai cultural exchanges.
The largest Chinese New Year** event in Thailand is held in Phetchaburi, more than 300 kilometers north of Bangkok. During this period, there will be lion and dragon dances, gongs and drums, stilt walkers and running boats, etc., the climax of the program is more than 30 meters long "Golden Dragon Dance" show. This event attracts a large number of spectators every year.
Myanmar: The first day of the Lunar New Year is a national holiday, but the northern part of the country pays more attention to the Chinese New Year
In Myanmar, the first day of the Lunar New Year is an official public vacation.
On New Year's Eve, Burmese Chinese are all in the family to eat a New Year's dinner together, and after the meal, they warmly gather together to wait for the arrival of the first day of the Lunar New Year. On the first day of the year people put on new clothes to go to relatives, relatives and friends living in different parts of the country, are using this holiday reunion, *** congratulations on the New Year, "congratulations and wealth".
In the northern part of Myanmar, there are more Chinese, and the status of Chinese is very high. There Chinese is the common language, RMB is the common currency, and cell phone numbers are Chinese numbers. During the Chinese New Year, the festive atmosphere there is more enthusiastic than in other regions and there are more activities.
Laos: National leaders attach great importance to the Chinese New Year
In terms of calendar, Laos uses the Gregorian, Buddhist, and Minor calendars at the same time; among some ethnic minorities, the Chinese lunar calendar is also used. There is a Spring Festival in Laos, but the calendar is different from the Chinese one, so it is not celebrated at the same time as the Chinese Spring Festival. The Chinese in Laos and the ethnic minorities that use the Chinese calendar celebrate the Chinese New Year every year. Chinese New Year is not a national holiday; however, Chinese bosses often give their employees a vacation during the Spring Festival.
Laos' leaders value the Chinese New Year and they attend Chinese New Year celebrations. Once, Mr. Zhang Guilong, a Chinese entrepreneur, invited a major Chinese event in Laos as well as officials from the embassy to their home to attend a Spring Festival party. Several members of the Politburo of the Lao Party were also invited, as well as the president of the Lao Buddhist Federation.
Japan: Spring Festival used to be the biggest festival in Japan
Spring Festival used to be the biggest festival in Japan. Before the Spring Festival, every family decorated their houses with pine and cypress. On New Year's Eve, the whole family gathered around the fireplace to celebrate the New Year. At midnight, 108 bells were rung at the temple and the next day, people paid their respects to each other.
However, in 1873, during the reign of Emperor Meiji, Japan stopped using the lunar calendar in favor of the solar calendar, and at the same time abolished the Spring Festival. Since then, the Japanese have adopted January 1 (New Year's Day) of the solar calendar as the legal New Year.
After the change to the new calendar, although most parts of Japan do not celebrate the New Year on the old calendar, areas such as Okinawa Prefecture and the Amami Islands in Kagoshima Prefecture still retain the old calendar New Year's custom intact. Moreover, Chinese New Year as a cultural phenomenon can still be felt in Japan. Chinese in Japan still celebrate the Spring Festival.
Brunei: Chinese New Year: children pay homage to the New Year, and the hosts give the children "green packets"
Chinese New Year is a national holiday in Brunei.
Brunei's Spring Festival, the most distinctive activity is to "open the door to welcome guests". During Chinese New Year, people will open their doors to welcome their neighbors, friends and relatives to celebrate the New Year and exchange greetings. Local Malays also have the habit of taking children out to pay New Year's greetings, and the hosts usually have to give the children "New Year's money", but Brunei's "New Year's money" is green in color, so it's not called "red packet", but "green packet". The first thing you need to do is to get your hands on a green packet.
Bhutan: Chinese New Year and Tibetan customs are basically the same
In Bhutan, the Spring Festival is a national holiday.
The lunar New Year in Bhutan is called Losar (meaning "New Year" in Tibetan), and its date is the same as the Chinese New Year. The custom of the Bhutanese people in celebrating the New Year is basically the same as that of the Tibetans in China.