As 2023 enters its final day, people around the world are celebrating the new year in different ways.
The countdown to Times Square in New York is commonplace for us, but have you ever heard of the custom of pulling your ears, watching bullfights, not laughing or even crying for New Year's Eve?For different countries or regions, because of their different cultural backgrounds, the customs of Chinese New Year's Eve are also "strange".
Brazilian New Year's fireworks display (**
Brazil: Pulling your ears when you meet.
On New Year's Day, Brazilians flock to the mountain with torches held high. People are scrambling to "find happiness" - to find the golden birch fruit, which symbolizes happiness. The New Year's Day custom in rural Brazil is more special, when people meet on New Year's Day, they pull each other's ears to express their blessings.
Brazilians do not eat chicken to welcome the New Year. Because chickens walk backwards, Brazilians believe that the new year should be forward-looking and not backwards. Because the fish swims forward and the pig's nose arches forward, Brazilians only eat fish and pork on New Year's Day.
German New Year's Eve custom "ascending" (*The Paper).
Germany: Fish scales in your wallet.
The New Year in Germany is a week-long. They will put a few fish scales in their wallets, because fish scales are a new year mascot and a sign of wealth.
During the New Year's Day, every household should put a fir tree and a horizontal tree, and the leaves are full of silk flowers, indicating that the flowers are full of flowers and spring. Moments before the arrival of the New Year, the Germans climbed on their chairs, and as soon as the bell rang, they jumped out of the chairs and threw a heavy object behind the chair as a sign of throwing away the misfortune and jumping into the New Year.
In addition, there is a New Year's custom in the German countryside called the "tree climbing competition", where it is said that the higher you climb, the luckier you will be.
Italy's "Diving to Welcome the New Year" (*Xinhuanet).
Italy: Broken peace.
Italian tradition believes that making a loud noise on New Year's Eve can ward off evil spirits and bring a happy New Year. That's why the locals keep setting off fireworks and smashing everything that can be broken to make a noise before New Year's Day.
On New Year's Day, every Italian household has to burn a fire, and it must be kept out all day, because Italians believe that the fire comes from the sun, and if the fire is broken on New Year's Day, it will not see the light of day in the coming year.
In addition, the custom of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new year is unique to Rome, Italy, which has a history of more than 60 years. With near-zero degrees Celsius outside temperatures and gusts of cold winds, the Romans jumped shirtless into the icy water. Those who can participate in the New Year's river diving event for many years in a row will also be awarded the title of "Mr. OK".
Spain's New Year's Eve "Eat 12 Grapes" (*Xinhuanet).
Spain: Eat 12 grapes in a row.
Spaniards firmly believe that a grape represents the month of the new year, so when the church bell rings at midnight, people begin to compete to eat grapes, ring a bell, eat a grape, ring 12 times, eat 12, to show that the coming year will be smooth sailing, good luck, and full of luck.
Portugal New Year's Eve to watch bullfights (**
Portugal: Watch the bullfight.
Every year, ten days before and after New Year's Day, it is the climax of the Portuguese bullfighting. Thousands of people poured into the bullring of the town, ** the wonderful performances of the bullfighters.
Peru: Wear yellow pants into the New Year
Peruvians consider yellow to be the color of the sun and their lucky color. Therefore, at the end of the year, from shops to street vendors, they all sell yellow pants, because at this time of year, the most people buy yellow pants, and even the small pets at home are dressed in yellow, which is very cute. Peruvians, young and old, wear yellow pants to enter the new year in the hope of "close-fitting" good luck.
India's New Year's Eve will also be "sprinkled red" (*Xinhua News Agency).
India: Crying bitterly and not eating, meeting and pouring ink.
India's New Year's Day is known as "Crying New Year's Day" and "Fasting New Year's Day". On the first day of the new year, no one is allowed to get angry, let alone lose their temper. In some places, instead of celebrating, the Chinese New Year is hugged and cried.
They believe that time flies and life is short, and they use crying to express their sadness. In some areas, people fast for a day and a night to welcome the new year. On New Year's morning, people take red powder packets and go out to greet the elderly, relatives and friends. After greeting each other, they put red powder on each other's foreheads to express good luck and good luck. Young people put red ink into water guns and shoot them at relatives and friends, which is called "spalling".
Japan's New Year's Eve bell rings 108 times (**surging news).
Japan: Ring the bell 108 times, dreaming of good luck and evil.
Japan has a national holiday from December 29 to January 3 of the new year. At midnight on the day before the New Year, temples in Japan are usually filled with cigarette smoke and bells ringing in unison. The Japanese believe that every time you knock it, you get rid of one kind of trouble, and one hundred and eight times it means that you get rid of all your worries.
On the morning of New Year's Day, the whole family, from the young to the old, drank Tusu wine and tasted herring roe, black beans, and small dried fish boiled in soy sauce with a slightly sweet taste. These auspicious foods are said to bring prosperity and good health to future generations. In addition, the family also sat around and told each other about the dreams they had on New Year's Eve to check the good fortune.
Thailand's New Year's Eve "Splashing Water Blessing" (*The Paper).
In addition, Thailand's "Splashing Blessing", North Korea's "Window Flower", Sri Lanka's "Exorcism Dance" and so on are also very interesting.
[Trivia].
There are many different versions of when the word "New Year's Day" originated, and it was first seen in the Book of Jin in ancient Chinese books: "Emperor Zhuan took the first month of Mengxia as the yuan, in fact, it was the spring of New Year's Day." With the development of society, the specific meaning of "New Year's Day" in different times and different countries is also different. So far, most countries in the world have adopted the internationally accepted Gregorian calendar, and January 1 of each year is regarded as "New Year's Day".
"Yuan" has the meaning of beginning, "Dan" symbolizes the red sun rising from the ground, and "New Year's Day" means that people welcome the new year with vigorous vitality.
*: The Paper, Xinhuanet, China News Network, Red Net).