New Year's traditions around the world

雪儿 · 发表于: 2012-1-25 21:08:06

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Ennio Leanza / EPA

More cowbell?

Equipped with branches of pine trees and cow bell, some "Silvesterchlaus" (New Years Claus) walk toward a farm house in Urnaesch, Switzerland, to offer their best wishes for the new year. After they sing and dance the Silvesterchlaeuse receive food, hot drinks or money. It is believed that a visit by the Silvesterchlaeuse helps drive away evil spirits.

雪儿 · 发表于: 2012-1-25 21:08:25

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Jasper Juinen / Getty Images

How's the water?

Hardy Dutch swimmers brave the icy North Sea on Jan. 1, 2011, in Scheveningen, Netherlands. In North America, the Polar Bear club helped popularize the tradition of icy plunges in cold, winter months. Bernarr Macfadden, who founded the Coney Island Polar Bear Club in 1903, believed that "a dip in the ocean during the winter can be a boon one's stamina, virility and immunity."

雪儿 · 发表于: 2012-1-25 21:08:41

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Mariana Bazo / Reuters

Bathed in yellow

A woman holds an offering of fruits as shamans perform a ritual for good luck for the coming new year in Lima, Peru, on Dec. 29, 2010. In Peru, yellow is considered good luck, and people will often wear yellow underwear on New Year's Eve for luck in the new year. Shamans from around the country attend fairs to perform rituals that include showering subjects with yellow flowers or passing a guinea pig over subjects' bodies.

雪儿 · 发表于: 2012-1-25 21:10:15

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Reuters

Look out below

People get hit by firecrackers during the Yanshui Beehive Rockets Festival, as part of the Chinese Lantern Festival or "Yuan Xiao Jie," in Tainan County on Feb. 16, 2011. Locals believe bad luck will go away after one is bombed with beehive firecrackers, a tradition that has evolved into a huge tourist attraction. The Lantern Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the Lunar New Year with festivities and celebrations across the island.

雪儿 · 发表于: 2012-1-25 21:10:42

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Grace Liang / Reuters

Year of the dragon

Participants perform a fire dragon dance at a temple fair celebrating the Chinese New Year in Beijing on Feb. 6, 2011. The traditional dance of the dragon accompanied by loud drum beats and cymbals is intended to scare away evil spirits in the new year. The celebrations take place over 15 days leading up to the Lunar New Year, which falls on a new moon, and marks the end of the winter season.

雪儿 · 发表于: 2012-1-25 21:11:03

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Christopher Furlong / Getty Images

Playing with fire

Hogmanay fireball swingers illuminate the streets of Stonehaven, carrying on the tradition of welcoming the new year on Jan. 1, 2004. Revelers celebrate Hogmanay, the Scottish celebration of New Year's Eve, in the small highland coastal town by swinging baskets of fire above their heads. At the end of the procession, the flaming baskets are thrown into the sea. There are two theories on the symbolism of the fireballs. One is that it originates in pagan ceremonies where the fireballs were created to mimic the sun, so that all things living would have the appropriate amount of sunshine. The second is that the fire was created as a way of purification to destroy demons or corruption in the air.

雪儿 · 发表于: 2012-1-25 21:11:24

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Lucas Jackson / Reuters

Waiting for the ball to drop

Revelers cheer, confetti falls and the ball drops in Times Square during New Year's celebrations in New York City on Jan. 1, 2011. The first New Year's Eve ball was dropped in Times Square in 1907. It had 100 25-watt light bulbs, spanned five feet in diameter, weighed 700 pounds and was made of iron and wood.

雪儿 · 发表于: 2012-1-25 21:12:20

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Pornchai Kittiwongsakul / AFP - Getty Images

Water war

Thai children and foreign tourists spray water at each other on Khaosan road during the Songkran festival in Bangkok on April 12, 2011. Songkran is the Thai New Year which starts on April 13. The weather is at its hottest around this time of year in Thailand and people celebrate by splashing water at each other. This originates from the tradition of pouring fragrant water on Buddha images as a cleansing ritual. The collected "blessed" water would then be poured on family members to help bring good luck.

雪儿 · 发表于: 2012-1-25 21:13:07

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Ernesto Benavides / AFP - Getty Images

Fortune in a beer

An Andean woman reads an egg yolk inside a glass of beer during a ritual of predictions at a fair in Lima, Peru, on Dec. 27, 2011. The New Year's fairs have become a popular destination for those seeking good luck or predictions for the coming new year.

雪儿 · 发表于: 2012-1-25 21:13:30

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Kim Ludbrook / EPA

The Rio of South Africa

Party goers dance in the hot summer sun during the annual New Year's Eve carnival held through the streets of Johannesburg, South Africa, on Dec. 31, 2008. The first carnival was held in 2004, inspired by the Rio carnival and is intended to encourage leadership and creative skills among the local communities.

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[2012年] New Year's traditions around the world

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