Chinese New Year

People carry lanterns and join in a big parade led by a silk dragon, the Chinese symbol of strength. As a legend says, the dragon sleeps most of the year, so people throw firecrackers to awaken the dragon.

In the Chinese lunar calendar each of the 12 years is named after an animal. According to a legend, Buddha asked all the animals to come to him before he left the earth. Only 12 animals came to wish him farewell, and as a reward Buddha named a year after each one.

Songkran

In Thailand, a special three-day water festival takes place on April 13–15. It is called Songkran, the Buddhists’ celebration of the New Year. Parades feature huge statues of Buddha that spray water on passersby. In small villages, young people throw water at each other for fun. People also release fish into rivers as an act of kindness.

At Songkran, people tie strings around each other’s wrists to show their respect. A person can have as many as 25 or 30 strings on one wrist, each from a different person. The strings are supposed to be left on until they fall off naturally.