July
2010
Amazing Travel Destinations: South America, China and India
It does not matter where you are travelling to, going abroad is always a wonderful adventure. Every culture has its own oddities and eccentricities, but is of level importance to all other threads in the quilt of humanity. The cultural story of the world is all weaved together by each region’s diverse culture. Each culture is different in their traditions, celebrations and most interestingly, their holidays. Looking at the three prominent regions, we can picture how South Americans, Chinese and Indians celebrate holidays.
South America holidays are mainly Catholic in nature. Because of this, Saints carnivals are some of the most common holidays in South America; holidays like Dia de Todos Los Santos celebrate all Catholic saints, but each day of the year celebrates a specific saint. Individuals in South America are oftentimes named for the saint whose day they were born on. Carnaval is one of the most popular festivals in South America, the equivalent of Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday. This festival celebrates the day before the forty-day Catholic festival of Lent and involves huge celebrations of excess, samba music, and parades.
Holidays in China are passably unusual for the locals. China is known for its unique culture where the sacred and orthodox meets the contemporary and the eccentric. The chinese celebrate their holidays with great spiritual importance. Chinese New Year is the biggest holiday celebrated in China. Nearly all of the different ethnic groups in China hold the day sacred, partaking in many rituals and ceremonials to ascertain luck in the coming year. A more modern holiday is Woman’s Day, a day that all women in China are allowed to take off work.
Holidays in India have a different tone than either of the aforementioned countries. These holidays range from those related to Hinduism to Christian holidays, to Muslim festivities. For Indian people, holidays come every day of the year. A civic holiday celebrated by most is the birthday of celebrated civil rights leader, Mohandas K. Gandhi. Gandhi’s birthday has been declared as a day of non-violence, and no liquor is sold on this day in his respect.
Half of the experience when travelling is learning about the culture of the country that you will be visiting. These holidays are a short list of the many marvelous and exciting holidays seen abroad.
