So much in Asia depends on the calendar. In February in Beijing, more than 20 million people all set off fireworks to celebrate Chinese New Year. In Nagaland in India, tribes from all over the region meet to compete, dance, and celebrate. In Thailand, spectators look on as celebrants perform bizarre rituals at the Nine Emperor Gods Festival.
With an intimate and unique knowledge of Asian culture, Remote Lands knows the importance of experiencing culture the right way. Whether you want an up-close view of the Sing-Sing festival in the Asaro Valley of Papua New Guinea or a quiet walk through the Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan, Remote Lands can give travelers the best possible experience on their celebrations throughout Asia.
At this one-day festival, the various peoples of Guangxi province get together to celebrate love. Lovers give each other letters and gifts, and express their feeling through dancing and singing. The Li people hold open air parties in colorful dress with traditional food, competitions and music with a big bonfire in the evening.
This three-day festival is a chance for the Miao people to experience love and courtship. Young women dress in elaborate clothes and jewelry, and young men woo them with parcels of rice. If they receive two chopsticks in return, they may court the lady. There is Lusheng dancing and music, as well as bullfights within the festivities.
In April, Thailand comes to a standstill for Songkran Festival, the Thai New Year. Armed with water-guns, people take to the streets for a mass water fight. Water symbolizes the end of the dry season and also its ability to cleanse the soul, though don't expect to feel too 'cleansed' after three days of this all-out water party.
The huge outdoor Spring Wave Music and Art Festival is Taiwan’s answer to Glastonbury, with none of the mud. The focus is more on the music, rather than art, with this two-day concert at Hengchun arena (Hengchun Airport) hosting an assortment of national and international acts across more genres than you can shake your hips at.
This huge religious festival, which marks the start and end of the famous 186-mile Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage, could actually be considered as more of mass party for the central Taiwanese city of Taichung. Firecrackers, free food and drink, music and crazy processions all help to create the celebratory atmosphere over a month of mayhem.
Autumn and spring are welcomed in the Takayama area outside of Nagoya at what is considered one of the most beautiful festivals in Japan – the Takayama Festival. During October and April spectators enjoy significant cultural displays of motifs and lanterns at the Hachiman Matsuri and Sakurayama Hachiman Shrines.
Out with the old and in with the new! On the eve of Myanmar’s new year, the country cleanses the bad deeds of the prior year through splashing themselves and their friends with water. Elders spend the waterfight relaxing in the monasteries and pagoda precincts. The five-day festival takes place throughout the entire country.
To honor the widely revered Tin Hau, Goddess of the Sea and Patron Saint of Fishermen, locals flock to over 70 temples dedicated to her across Hong Kong. Celebrations include a colorful procession of fishing boats through Sai Kung and a three-hour parade through Yuen Long with lion dancers and marching bands.
A statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary is enshrined in Pakil in Laguna and every year between the Friday before Palm Sunday and Pentecost Sunday, the women of Pakil carry the image into the city and commemorate the ‘Seven Sorrows of Our Lady’ by performing seven ‘Turumbas,’ which are wild dances performed in homage to her.
Though this festival is referred to as the ‘birthday of Buddha’, it also celebrates Buddha’s enlightenment and passing and as such, is one of the most important events in the Buddhist calendar. Devotees visit the pagodas and make offerings of flowers and fruits, while abstaining from alcohol and other prohibited activities.
