Chinese Spring Festival Going Global

Nowadays, more and more countries around the world are holding celebrations for Chinese Spring Festival. What’s more, not only are these attended and enjoyed by Chinese citizens living abroad, but by many other nationalities, too.

With colourful decorations of lanterns and lamps, shopping centres have been organising events and activities to celebrate Chinese Spring Festival for years, while concerts and other performances are also proving a big success. Tickets for the 2017 Grand Chinese New Year Concert in St Petersburg sold out, with 90% of the audience local Russians. People are also discovering the fun of interacting with the celebrations, rather than simply watching as part of an audience. To celebrate the 2017 festival, over 1,000 Ghanaian junior high school students got up on stage to perform Chinese songs and dances. Students in New York City, meanwhile, have since 2016 been able to enjoy an official day’s holiday for Chinese Spring Festival.

It seems that Chinese Spring Festival is becoming a global celebration of joy and love. What do you think of this phenomenon? Write to us to share your opinion!

【推荐2】The following are some of the most unique celebrations from all around the world.

If you’re in Thailand between April 13th and 15th, get ready for the world’s biggest water fight. The celebration marks the beginning of the Thai New Year, where cleansing with water is meant to purify and renew. In Bangkok or Chang Mai, the water fights can last up to six days. While this is the most popular activity, Songkran is also a time when people visit elders and monks to pay their respects to the New Year.

June 29th is a good day to visit Haro, Spain. Bring a bottle of red wine and prepare to be drenched (湿透) in red wine in the heart of Spain’s grape-growing region. After a church ceremony, a large number of people get gathered for the battle, where white shirts will be made bright purple by the end of the day.     

Created after the terrible 1906 earthquake as a way of lifting people’s spirits, the race has become one of the region’s most important events. Hosted every year on the third Sunday of May, the race runs approximately 12km through the city. The real highlight, however, is the thousands of people dressed up in a show. Wear whatever you want: Batman suits, purple wigs (假发)...

Although their Queen’s birthday is actually during the winter, she celebrates it on April 30—the country’s official “Queen’s Day” since 1949. Orange is the national color, and the streets become a sea of shining wigs and body paints, as crowds gather in the squares. Amsterdam is the center of this outdoor party, but nearly every town is alive with orange on this day.

【推荐3】Here are four traditional festivals in Spain.

Saint John’s Eve

Saint John’s Eve is a midsummer celebration being celebrated at the eve of the Feast Day of Saint John the Baptist. According to a legend, Saint John was born six months before Jesus, so the day of Saint John the Baptist was set to be celebrated six months before Christmas. Nowadays, for most people Saint John’s Eve just marks the start of summer.

Festival of Saint Fermin

The festival is held annually in Pamplona, Spain, beginning at noon on July 6 and ending at midnight on July 14, honoring the city’s first bishop and patron saint, Saint Fermin. The festival involves traditions such as running, bullfighting and fireworks.

Fallas in Valencia

This festival involves statues that have been constructed all year round being placed all around Valencia. That is not all. All of the statues at the end of the festival are just burned right in front of everyone’s eyes. It is an annual celebration held in March. During the week of Fallas you will hear a lot of fire crackers exploding and beautiful ladies and girls called falleras being dressed in traditional Spanish dresses.

La Tomatina in Bunol

Have you ever wanted to throw something at someone’s face? Well, La Tomatina festival will let you take out all your frustrations! This crazy tradition started more than 70 years ago and is celebrated every last Wednesday of August in Bunol. In this festival 20,000 people throw tomatoes at each other. For what? You might ask. Just for fun!

【推荐1】To an outsider，any culture can seem confusing.And the UK's got a thing or two that raises a few eyebrows.However，understand the why and things might be less puzzling.    1    .

In a world where 61％of nations drive on the right，Brits drive on the left.Why? Most people think it goes back to Medieval，maybe even Roman times.    2     when you remember that right-handed people wear a sword on their left hip.Travelling on the left allowed you to   keep your weapon arm toward your opponent，who would be on your right.This practice continued until the 18th century when a law was passed requiring all traffic crossing London Bridge to keep to the left.

Visitors to the UK that have just washed their hands in an old-fashioned sink might be wondering why one tap is only for hot water，the other cold.    3    .So，why this oddity? It relates to a time when hot and cold water were kept separate to prevent pollution.Drinkable cold water came from a mains supply，but hot water came from attic tanks and was not considered suitable for consumption.So they were kept apart.

Millions of people drink tea worldwide，but the odd Brits put milk in theirs.Why? This mysterious practice relates to the quality of china cup used in the 18th century when tea was first imposed.For the majority of Brits，the cups available couldn’t stand the heat of the boiling water and would break，so milk was added first.    4    .And this practical tweak soon became a national habit.

    5    .As you can see，these odd Brits have perfectly clear reasons for left-hand driving，two-tap sinks and tea with milk.Even if they still seem strange，at least now you’re in the know.

【推荐3】24 Solar Terms — Frost’s Descent

The traditional Chinese solar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Frost’s Descent (霜降), the 18th solar term of the year, begins this year on October 24, 2023 this year and ends on November 7.     1    . Here are the five things you should know about Frost’s Descent.

Frosty autumn. Frost consists of white ice crystals of frozen water vapour near the ground. During Frost’s Descent, frost begins to appear. But in the lower reaches of the Yellow River region, frost first appears in late October or early November. As Frost’s Descent comes,    2     .

    3     during Frost’s Descent, it can help people resist the cold and protect their bones. In the countryside, people believe that their lips will crack if they don’t eat persimmons (柿子) during this period.

Eating apples. The apple is one kind of recommended fruit during Frost’s Descent. There are many sayings about apples’ benefits in China, such as “Eat an apple after meals, even old men can be as strong as young men,” just as the Western proverb goes, “    4    ”. Apples can moisten the lungs, relieve one’s thirst and help one’s digestion.

Eating duck. It’s a custom to eat duck on the first day of Frost’s Descent in south Fujian province and Taiwan. There is a saying in Fujian which goes, “Even nourishing all year is not as good as nourishing the human body on the first day of Frost’s Descent.” Eating duck is a way for people there to gain weight.

Eating dates. The date is one of the fruits on the market during Frost’s Descent. Nutritious with a great number of vitamins, dates (大枣) can nourish the blood, decrease blood pressure, and improve one’s immunity.     5    .

People in areas such as Daxin county in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region often celebrate the first day of Frost’s Descent. In the Frostvs Descent Festival, the Zhuang people offer sacrifices, dance and sing folk songs. With a history of more than 360 years, the festival is to commemorate Cen Yuyin, a heroine in battles against foreign aggression. Frost’s Descent is a big day for all of the Chinese.

【推荐2】The Tibet autonomous region has placed nearly half its land area under the strictest ecological supervision (监督).It was announced at an annual meeting of the regional People's Congress, which kicked off on Wednesday.

The ecological protection area, which covers more than 539,000 square kilometers, makes up 45 percent of the region's area, and 22 ecological reserves have been built and are operational.

According to the government work report, the rate of days with good air quality in Tibet's cities has reached 99.4 percent, and all the region's drinking water sources have met applicable standards.

The report also said that the number of Tibetan antelope (羚)in the region has risen to more than 200,000, wildlife species to 1,072 and black-necked cranes to more than 8,000. Five rare new species have been discovered in recent years. The region has spent 12.2 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) on ecological protection projects in recent years. Five cities and three counties have been named as national-level ecologically civilized model cities and counties, and more rural residents have benefited financially by undertaking part-time ecological protection work.

More advanced monitoring facilities have been in place in the reserve, with more ecological protection inspectors employed to undertake protection work. The professional ecological inspectors are provided with basic tools such as motorcycles, telescopes and paging receivers, and they provide feedback regularly. Professional inspectors also receive one week of training every year from professors at Tibet University.

Kunsang Darje, a railway maintenance worker in Nagchu, said that apart from maintaining the railway and highway, he also collects trash along the section with his colleagues. “The place I work is in a no-man's land, and I think it's very important to protect the animals there without affecting them with human activities, and we are also bound to take responsibility there," he said.

【推荐3】Soccer star Carli Lloyd made history as a member of the United States women national soccer team, which won the 2015 FIFA Women World Cup. Lloyd became the first person ever to score three goals in a single game during a Women World Cup final, helping the U. S. beat Japan 5-2 in the final match. During that game, Lloyd scored two goals within the first five minutes.

Lloyd was named the most valuable player of 2015 World Cup and won the Golden Ball Trophy. In November, it was announced that Lloyd was on the short list for FIFA Puskas Award, for the season’s best single goal. The goal being considered was her third during the World Cup final, which she shot from the field’s halfway line, 50 yards from the net. She was the only woman nominated (提名) this year.

Lloyd became a force in women soccer long before the U. S. team’s World Cup won. She grew up in Delran, New Jersey, a small town near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She began playing soccer at age 5. By high school, she was a powerhouse in the sport. The Philadelphia Inquirer named her Girls’ High School Player of the Year in 1999 and 2000. She attended Rutgers University, in New Jersey and graduated as the school’s all-time leader in New Jersey, where she was a collegiate soccer star.

Lloyd has won two Olympic gold medals. She has scored winning goals in many important matches, including the finals in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. In all, Lloyd has scored more than 70 goals as a member of the women national team. She has also played on several professional teams, and is currently a midfielder (中场球员) in the United States women national soccer team. Off the field, Lloyd gives back to her community by running a soccer camp for young people in New Jersey. She is a hometown hero in Delran; a local ice cream shop even named a flavor Carli’s Cake Batter Cookie Dough Kick in her honor.