Marine Day in Japan By Sharon Schweitzer Since 2003, Marine Day in Japan has been observed on the third Monday of July. Marine Day is a Japanese national holiday that aims to thank the ocean for its bounty. Considering that Japan is a maritime nation, the country and its people are heavily dependent [...]
International Sushi Day By Sharon Schweitzer To find the origins of sushi we must look at a dish called narezushi. Narezushi is salted fish stored in fermented rice for months at a time. Southeast Asia and Japan both had their own version of the dish, the rice was discarded and the fish was [...]
Dragon Boat Festival By Sharon Schweitzer The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the Double Fifth Festival, is a traditional Chinese holiday with more than two thousand years of history. It begins on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Because the fifth month is considered an unlucky time of year, many traditions [...]
Cheng Ming Festival By Sharon Schweitzer The Ching Ming Festival, also known as Qingming (清明节), is a Chinese custom celebrated worldwide by people of many Asian cultures. Sometimes called Tomb Sweeping Day or the Pure Brightness Festival (pure brightness is the English translation of Qingming), it's an annual event to remember and honor ancestors [...]
International Tea Day By Sharon Schweitzer Tea is a beverage made from the Camellia sinesis plant. Tea is the world’s most consumed drink, after water. It is believed that tea originated in northeast India, north Myanmar and southwest China, but the exact place where the plant first grew is not known. There is evidence that [...]
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels Do you know what the most consumed liquid in the world is after water? And hint: It’s not beer! Tea is made from the leaves of Camellia sinensis and is the second most consumed drink on the planet. So, in honor of National Hot Tea Month, we are exploring five global [...]
Image: stock.adobe.com By Sensvector While most Western countries ring in New Year’s Day at midnight on January 1 following the solar calendar, many of our Asian neighbors celebrate New Year’s according to the lunar calendar, which in 2021 falls on February 12th, and is the Year of the Ox. Not just a single day festivity, [...]
Chinese New Year by youranwo on flikr The Chinese Lunar New Year also known as the “Spring festival” (chunjie (春节)) starts the first day of the first month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar. In 2019, the Year of the Pig, the New Year begins on February 5th and is celebrated for a [...]
Chinese Halloween by Jonathan Kos-Read on flikr Many people worldwide cherish fond memories of childhood Halloween, which is celebrated differently worldwide. In the U.S. on this day revelers have the opportunity to put on a costume and become a princess or an astronaut, and light candies that parents normally prohibit. What about [...]
Rice Field Ha Giang Rice Terraces Vietnam by Maxpixel While National Rice Month is a U.S. celebration, this holiday celebrates the small grain that is responsible of feeding and nurturing more than half the world’s population. No matter your geographical location, income or cultural background, rice is a dish to [...]
