The first quarter of the year has already passed.  As the month shifts from March to April, a lot of people will start preparing for the huge event that is held in China every year.  I’m referring to the China Import and Export Fair or what is more popularly called the Canton Fair.  This particular fair takes place twice each year.  The first schedule is held around Spring time while the second show is held in autumn when trees take on a blazing orange color and leaves start to fall.  This particular show started way back in 1957 and until today, it is still considered as the biggest trade fair in the country.

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Posted in China, Events |

If Western countries have Halloween, then the Chinese have the Ghost Festival, a religious observance of ghosts, spirits, and long-dead ancestors that last for an entire month. The Ghost Festival starts on the 15th month of the seventh lunar month, when it is believed the gates of the underworld are opened and its ethereal occupants are set loose upon the living world. In Taiwan, there are two major ghost festivals - the Buddhist one called Ullambana and the Taoist one called Jhongyuan. Both events are cause to perform religious ceremonies throughout the island, from the burning of paper “spirit” money and offerings of food and drink to monks chanting the necessary prayers to ease the suffering of the dead.

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Posted in Events, Taiwan |

Valentines Day is celebrated in Western countries as a time when lovers give sweets, cards, and other gifts to each other, spend a romantic dinner together, and enjoy each others’ company. Originally devoted to Saint Valentine’s, it has become an annual bonanza for commercial establishments, and prices for heart-tugging frivolities double in the days leading to this romantic event.

For Asian countries, however, whose non-Christian population do not recognize Saint Valentines, February 14 has become an exercise of cultural mitosis, as different countries have different ways in assimilating a new tradition. From social curiosity to odd adaptation to outright resistance to saying “I Love You“, take time to find out how different eastern nations take on this day of romance.

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Posted in Asia, Events |

Esala Perahera is one of Asia’s most spectacular festivals, with all the colors and dressings of Mardi Gras but without the drinking and sex. Held for 10 days during late summer’s full moon (around July to August), this Sri Lankan Buddhist tradition attracts a major portion of Sri Lanka’s population to the lakeside capital of Kandy. The procession includes fire-juggling acrobats, banners, decorated and neon-lighted elephants, traditional dancers, musicians, palanquins, whip crackers, torch bearers and thousands of barefoot pilgrims and swordsmen. And it all centers around the sacred Tooth Relic of Buddha.

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Posted in Events, Sri Lanka |

Most people associate the word Tet with the military offensive of the communist North Vietnamese against US and South Vietnamese forces during the Vietnam War in the 1960’s. Tet, in fact, is the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, and is short for Tet Nguyen Dan, and is held between late January and early February. Also known as the Spring Festival, is the most important of the Vietnamese holidays, which the Vietnamese celebrate like it was Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and New Year all rolled in one event. Indeed, as the time between harvest and sowing, it is one of the few rest periods that many families can enjoy, and so they take every advantage to rejoice with relatives and friends.

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Posted in Events, Vietnam |

New Year’s Day, or shougatsu, is the most significant time of the year in Japan. Shougatsu signifies a completely fresh start of things, a time for the old year and its many troubles to end, and hope that the incoming year will be full of joy and prosperity. It is an age-old belief that years are separate from each other, and that ongoing concerns must be concluded at the end of the old year. Friends and companies even revel in bonenkai (year forgetting parties) for the purpose of waving away the troubles of the past 12 months.

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Posted in Events, Japan |

Is it snowing in your place? Or is it warm? Are you with your family, or staying at work? Are you by the beach or in a hotel or resort? Have you given your gifts away and opened your own presents? Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, whoever you are with, AsiaHotels.com and the staff of this blog would like to wish you a Merry Christmas! We hope to have given you a lot of ideas and tips for this year’s Christmas and the coming Christmases to come.

Posted in Events |

“Dim dawn behind the tamerisks — the sky is saffron-yellow –
As the women in the village grind the corn,
And the parrots seek the riverside, each calling to his fellow
That the Day, the staring Easter Day is born.”

So begins Rudyard Kipling’s “Christmas in India“, a poem which exalts the glories of Jesus’s birth in the subcontinent. Indeed, Christmas is a national holiday in India, despite the larger population of Hindu and Muslims in the country. December 25th is also known as Bada Din (the big day) since this day marks the start of the period when each day lengthens compared to previous days. Each state in the sub-continent of India celebrate Christmas in its own unique way.

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Posted in Events, India |

It is that magical time of the year once again when people glow in the wonderful spirit of unselfish giving and sharing. Yes, blessed Christmas is just around the corner (so to speak) and for sure there would be a lot of eager people booking those precious plane tickets and top of mind hotels in their favorite holiday destinations in Asia, that is, if they still have not done so way in advance.

Travel buffs from all corners of the world, who plan to be in Hong Kong during the holiday season, are in for a big surprise. This is because Hong Kong, also fondly called the Events Capital of Asia, will be celebrating Christmas with a bang. There are endless thrilling activities lined up for everyone who will be in the City of Neon Lights next month.

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Posted in Events, Hong Kong |

Due to its predominantly Buddhist population, Korea has never officially recognized Christmas as a holiday for many years. It was just a decade ago when only a few homes put up Christmas trees, and only the biggest stores decorated their interiors with lights during December, which was of the plain uncolored variety back then. It is only recently that this major Christian holiday has been celebrated in Korea, if only for its commercial aspects. Perhaps it is the increase in disposable income that has led to its popularity.

Gift-giving is an interesting ritual in Korea, as money is he most popular form of gift, given during Christmas, birthdays, and anniversaries. Actual presents are starting to be given in recent years, but money is still widely used as presents. Christmas dinner is very Korean in nature, with plenty of kimchi, red bean paste, and spicy dishes. Korean barbeque is a popular choice of viand during this festive occassion.

One of the earliest and grandest adopters of Christmas in Korea are the theme parks.

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Posted in Events, Korea |