As you’re preparing dinner or getting ready to watch your local fireworks show, have you ever wondered how the rest of the world is celebrating New Year? If you’ve always wondered, this is the post for you because we’re going to take a look at how some Asians celebrate New Year or New Year’s Eve.
How Different Asian Countries Celebrate New Year
Each Asian country has its own unique way of celebrating New Year. It may seem strange to the rest of world, but it’s unique to the culture. You have to admit, it would be interesting to find out how some Asians celebrate New Year, right? We’ve compiled a short list of Asian countries that celebrate New Year in the strangest way.
Nepal
The Ancient city of Bhaktapur is located in the east corner of the Kathmandu Valley. The New Year is marked with a parade of chariots, beautifully decorated with the statues of different gods and goddesses of their faith. There’s also a big tug of war competition between those who live on the East side of the city versus those who live in the West. Whoever wins will have a more prosperous year.
Myanmar
The Burmese celebrate New Year in different ways, but in Burma, they have a Water Festival. To the rest of the world, this celebration looks like one big water fight because people are freely splashing water on anyone they see. But, the practice does have a spiritual significance. It started with the ancient practice of pouring water from scented bowls to cleanse the soul and make it ready for a sinless start.
Laos
Now, we go to Laos where their New Year celebration is based on Buddhist traditions. What’s interesting is a Lao New Year begins on April 13 or 14. The celebration typically lasts for three days. In towns like Luang Prabang, it could last for a week. You can expect water fights, sand being brought to the temples, and flowers prepared for Buddha’s images.
Philippines
Typically, the Philippines celebrates New Year with a New Year dinner and fireworks. But, what’s strange is that the Filipinos buy firecrackers and fancy fireworks a few days before the New Year hits. Minutes before the clock strikes 12midnight, they light up the streets with the firecrackers and the entire neighborhoods fill up with smoke for an hour or two.
Next year plan to travel to Asia to experience how Asians celebrate New Year. Who knows, you might find an Asian woman you can fall for. Wouldn’t that be a great end to a year? For more interesting posts about the Asian culture, check out the rest of our posts on our blog.