Every year, on the 15th day of the first Lunar Calendar month the Lantern Festival officially ends the celebrations for Chinese New Year. This year, the festival is on February 7th. The Lantern Festival is celebrated so widely in South-East Asia that it is sometimes called the Second New Year. Examples of countries that celebrate the festival are China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and Taiwan.
During the night of the festival thousands of red lanterns are lit and flown into the night sky. Each lantern is individually decorated. Some decorate the lanterns with prayers, whereas some prefer to write riddles. Traditionally, in China, the Lantern Festival is considered a day for lovers. Watch the clip below from Chiang Mai, Thailand to see the beauty in this phenomenon!
Waitangi Day is New Zealand’s national day with celebrations
taking place all over the country. Every year on 6 February, New Zealand marks the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. In that year, representatives of the British Crown and over 500 Maori chiefs signed what is New Zealand’s founding document. The day was first officially commemorated in 1934, and it has been a public holiday since 1974. Click the links to see photos of Maori dancers: for more information on Waitangi Day: and information on Maori Culture.
One of the world’s largest Māori ceremonial waka (war canoe), the Ngatokimatawhaorua, can be found at Waitangi. The enormous wooden vessel, with room for 80 paddlers and 55 passengers, is an impressive sight on the water. The 70-year-old waka has been refurbished and relaunched for the 2010 celebrations. See photos of the canoe in action
Today a part of the Muslim world celebrates Milad un Nabi (or Mawlid), the birthday of the Muslim prophet Muhammed. This celebration, 4th of February, is slightly controversial because some Muslims don’t believe that celebrating birthdays is necessary, or even permissible. Despite the divided opinions, however, the majority of Muslims agree that the birth of Muhammed was the most significant event in Islamic history. Thus, those who celebrate it do so with great enthusiasm.
Saudi-Arabia is the only Muslim country where Milad un Nabi is not an official public holiday. In others, Milad un Nabi is sometimes celebrated in a carnival manner. Streets and mosques are decorated, parents tell their children stories about different aspects of the prophet’s life, and many people donate money, clothes, and food to charity. Milad un Nabi is also celebrated in countries such as India, Indonesia, Russia,Canada, as well as here in the UK.
Every spring, Japan celebrates a day called Setsubun, or better known as Risshun, the bean-throwing festival.
This year Risshun is celebrated on the 3rd of February. It is traditionally a day that marks the beginning of spring. When celebrated at home, roasted beans are thrown out the door cleansing away any demons from the former year.
While throwing the beans it’s appropriate to chant :
The three Chinese New Year I spent in Hangzhou (three hours’ drive from
Shanghai) have now muddled into one big celebratory memory: into one giant steamed bun, baozi: into one enormous good luck lantern. Chinese New Year, for me, was always a kind of alien Christmas with its red and gold, music and food, cards and gifts. The place in my mind where I most vividly experience the festivities are the streets surrounding Xihu, West Lake near the centre of the town. There, the crisp rattle of fireworks becomes a part of the air that Hangzhou breathes and the booming and cracking doesn’t pause until the two weeks are over. My most vivid impressions…
Happy Chinese New Year! This January will be the start
of the Year of the Dragon, as the world welcomes the Chinese New Year. The New Year falls in January due to the track of the new moon, as the Chinese calendar is a mixture of the Gregorian and lunar-solar calendars. Did you know that it’s such an auspicious year that many couples are hoping to have a child born during the Year of the Dragon? Read this full article to get to know many other aspects of the Chinese New Year and see some super pictures.
When you are out and about over the next fifteen days, if you meet
up with a Chinese friend, remember to wish them a Happy New Year. The most common auspicious greetings and sayings consist of four Chinese characters, such as the following:
Jinyu mangtang – “May your wealth [gold and jade] come to fill a hall”
Dazhan hongtu – “May you realize your ambitions”
Yingchun jiefu – “Greet the New Year and encounter happiness”
Wanshi ruyi – “May all your wishes be fulfilled”
Jiqing youyu – “May your happiness be without limit”
Zhubao pingan – “May you hear [in a letter] that all is well”
Yiban wanli = “May a small investment bring ten-thousandfold profits”
Fushou shuangquan – “May your happiness and longevity be complete”
Zhaocai jinbao – “When wealth is acquired, precious objects follow”
Today is Chinese New Year; but unlike many people who celebrate the occasion just over one night the Chinese honour the New Year by welcoming it over fifteen days.
First day– This is the day for welcoming the deities of heaven and earth. Cleaning is considered bad luck today and meat is not consumed for health reasons. It is also the day when people honour the elders in their family. Money is given in red envelopes from married relatives to single ones, from business managers to their employees and from parents to children.
Tuesday, 29th November marks the International Day of
Solidarity with the Palestinian People. It is the anniversary of the adoption of the UN resolution for the partition of Palestine. The observance of this day encourages Member States to continue to give the widest support and publicity to the observance of the International Day of Solidarity and to continue to seek solutiosn for Israel and Palestine that address the fundamental security concerns of both parties, find a solution to the refugee issue and see Jerusalem emerge from negotiation as the capital of two States. What does this situation mean to those living it? Read below some insights for Palestinian people…
“Hello” has got to be one of the most important words we use and
learning a few “hello“s in a different language will helps us build trust in our relationships with those from other cultural backgrounds. Nowadays, more than ever, our everyday encounters find us engaging with people who are different from ourselves; whether speaking from your desk to someone on the other side of the world, whether in the local supermarket or whether travelling abroad – do take a moment to learn that precious word in a new way. Our picture shows The Prince of Orange of the Netherlands receiving a hong (Maori greeting) from a Maori warrior in Wellington, New Zealand. Listen and see how many languages you can recognise out of these twenty languages: final composite hello.
Here’s help: listen & learn in 30 different ways to say hello…
International keynote speaker, Seminar Leader, Consultant
Hello, I'm Deborah Swallow and, for the last fifteen years, I've worked in over thirty countries addressing the complexities of people working internationally across multiple cultures, so individuals and organisations alike can gain an authentic competitive edge and win in international markets.
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of the world’s largest Māori ceremonial waka (war canoe), the Ngatokimatawhaorua, can be found at Waitangi. The enormous wooden vessel, with room for 80 paddlers and 55 passengers, is an impressive sight on the water. The 70-year-old waka has been refurbished and relaunched for the 2010 celebrations. See 
the birthday of the Muslim prophet Muhammed. This celebration, 4th of February, is slightly controversial because some Muslims don’t believe that celebrating birthdays is necessary, or even permissible. Despite the divided opinions, however, the majority of Muslims agree that the birth of Muhammed was the most significant event in Islamic history. Thus, those who celebrate it do so with great enthusiasm.
This year Risshun is celebrated on the 3rd of February. It is traditionally a day that marks the beginning of spring. When celebrated at home, roasted beans are thrown out the door cleansing away any demons from the former year.
Hello, I'm Deborah Swallow and, for the last fifteen years, I've worked in over thirty countries addressing the complexities of people working internationally across multiple cultures, so individuals and organisations alike can gain an authentic competitive edge and win in international markets. 