Regional Customs

Thailand: Thailand's traditional New Year's Day, Songkran ("Songkran" is the translation of Sanskrit), also known as the "Water Festival", the festival, people sprinkle water on each other, smiling and wishing their elders good health and longevity, friends and relatives a lucky New Year. During the festival, people sprinkle water on each other, wishing their elders a long and healthy life and friends and relatives a lucky New Year. Unmarried young men and women use water to express their love for each other. Thai people on the first day of the new year in the window sill, the door put a pot of water, pray for the new year, wind and rain.

Germany: Germans in the New Year's Day, every family should be set up a fir tree and horizontal tree, the leaves of the tree tied full of silk flowers, said the flowers like brocade, spring full of people. They are in the midnight of New Year's Eve New Year's Day before the moment, climbed to the chair, the bell rang, they jumped out of the chair, and will be a heavy weight thrown behind the chair back, to show that throw off the scourge of the New Year, jump into the New Year. In the German countryside is also circulating a New Year's custom - "climb a tree race", to show that step by step.

Egypt: Egyptians take the day of the Nile River as the beginning of the new year, called "New Year's Day". In some parts of Egypt, on New Year's Day, grains of crops such as soybeans, lentils, alfalfa and wheat, as well as small shoots of green plants, are offered to symbolize abundance. The more you offer to the gods, the more harvests you'll have on New Year's Day.

North Korea: Like China, North Korea also has the custom of putting up window flowers and peach symbols on New Year's Day to pray for heaven's blessing, drive away ghosts and monsters and bestow happiness. At dawn on New Year's Day, people stuffed some banknotes into pre-tied scarecrows and threw them to the crossroads, indicating that they sent away the evil and greeted the lucky and fortunate stars. At dusk, people burn the hair of the whole family that has fallen off during the year, wishing the family peace in all seasons. During the new year, the north korean people in addition to enjoy to wine and food, but also must do a kind of glutinous rice with pine nuts, chestnut powder, date paste and honey, etc, steamed into a similar with our country's eight treasures of sweet rice to eat, in order to foretell the family prosperous days as sweet as honey.

Singapore: Lunar New Year's Eve, the children have the habit of observing the New Year's Eve until midnight to be parents to worship the gods and ancestors after the end of the activities can go to bed, the next day early in the morning is to get up early, happy from the elders to take the "red packet" (New Year's Eve money) to see the dragon dance, lion dance team along the street, men and women dressed in festive costumes, bring gifts to visit relatives and friends. Men, women and children dressed in festive costumes, bring gifts to visit friends and relatives, everyone's face is filled with a festive atmosphere. On New Year's Day, people love to eat sweet rice cakes made of fried glutinous rice and brown sugar.

Italy: New Year's Eve in Italy is a night of revelry, when the night begins to fall, thousands of people flock to the streets, lighting firecrackers and fireworks, and even firing live ammunition. Men and women dance until midnight. Families pack up their old belongings and smash anything that can be broken in the house. Old pots, bottles and jars are thrown out the door to show that they are rid of bad luck and worries, which is their traditional way of saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming the new one.

Iran: The Islamic calendar is practiced in Iran, and its seasons and months are not fixed. In Iran, to celebrate the New Year is to celebrate the arrival of spring, often in late March of the calendar, New Year's Day to be celebrated for a week. People flock to the streets to build "bonfires" - "night fire", and then the whole family in turn from the night fire jumping around, indicating that the burning away of "bad luck "and usher in the light to drive away evil spirits and diseases, and happiness lasts forever. New Year's Eve to eat "seven dishes", the name of each dish should start with the letter "S", for good luck. From the first to the third day of the New Year, people visit friends and relatives to wish each other a happy Spring Festival. On the last day of the New Year, the whole family goes on a trek to avoid evil.

France: Celebrate the New Year with wine, people start to drink from New Year's Eve until January 3 to end. The French believe that the weather on New Year's Day is a sign of the new year. Early in the morning on New Year's Day, they go out on the street to look at the wind to divine: blowing the south wind, the omen of wind and rain, the year will be safe and hot; blowing the west wind, there is a fishing and milking the harvest; blowing the east wind, the fruit will be high yield; blowing the north wind, it is a bad year.

Switzerland: Swiss people have the habit of fitness on New Year's Day, some of them go in groups to climb the mountain, standing on the top of the mountain in the face of the snow and ice, singing loudly about the good life; some in the mountains along the long snowy road skiing, as if looking for the road to happiness; some stilt-walking competitions, men and women, old and young people, and wishing each other good health. To fitness to meet the arrival of the new year.

Greece: On New Year's Day, every family will make a big cake with a silver coin inside. The host cuts the cake into pieces and distributes them to family members or visiting friends and relatives. Whoever eats the piece of cake with the silver coin becomes the luckiest person in the New Year and everyone congratulates him.

Romania: On the eve of New Year's Day, people erected tall Christmas trees and set up a stage in the square. Citizens burned fireworks while singing and dancing. Rural people pull wooden plows decorated with all kinds of colorful flowers to celebrate the New Year.