Consider adding some of these to your bucket list and I’m sure you’ll never regret the effort to cover them all!

Android Users Bucket List app	iOS Users iWish app

NOTE: Celebrating some of these festivals usually requires physically being in the country. If travelling that far is impossible, see if you can get to your local Chinatown or East Asian neighborhood on the date of the festival.

 CHINA

Chinese New Year (Spring Festival 春节, Seollal in Korea, ) is celebrated across the world by Chinese diaspora. In 2014 it will be celebrated on January 31 and the final day occurring on February 15- see the Lantern Festival below. This is the most exciting festival I’ve ever experienced. It feels like American 4th of July but more dangerous! Get a more detailed overview on this amazing festival here.

Lantern Festival (Yuan Xiao Festival 元宵节) happens on the fifteenth day of the Chinese New Year. It’s the last day to enjoy the chaos of constant fireworks in little villages around the Chinese mainland. To participate on this day you’ll first need to buy a large paper lantern with a candle, and write your wishes and dreams on it. Then you’ll open up the lantern and light the candle… Finally, let the wind carry it to heaven!

Tomb-Sweeping Day (Qing Ming Festival 清明节) will fall on April 5 in 2014 and is celebrated in order to remember and honor loved ones who have passed. It’s a solemn event that mostly takes place in cemeteries. Now, certainly this festival has a morbid tone, so why would I suggest participating in it? This is mainly because of the importance that filial piety (being a good son/daughter) plays in many Asian cultures. Without an appreciation of the people who came before us, how could we expect to be remembered when we are gone?

Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhong Qiu Festival 中秋节, Chuseok in Korea, ) is the Autumn harvest in the Chinese lunar calendar and will occur on September 8 in 2014. It’s a celebration of the moon at its fullest and in China it is celebrated by giving others moon cakes in decorative boxes.Observing the moon on that night is a wonderful experience if you are in East Asia mainly because ALL people will go out to parks or public areas for a picnic. It’s interesting to see people lay out blankets and eat snacks while playing games under the light of a full moon. It’s also a time to cast lanterns with wishes into the sky.

Dragon Boat Festival (Duan Wu Jie 端午节) is celebrated around summer solstice (June 12, 2014) and is well-known across Asia because of the exciting dragon boat races held in many cities. Historically this day memorializes Qu Yuan, a minister who lived over two thousand years ago and drowned in a river. Preparing and eating zong zi is part of the tradition and, according to legend, represents the rice packets that were thrown into the river to distract the hungry fish surrounding his body… Enjoy!

KOREA

Seollal (설날) is the Lunar New Year holiday in Korea and is celebrated on the same day as other countries that traditionally use the Chinese Lunar calendar. It’s held on January 31 in 2014 and February 18 in 2015. It’s typically a 3-day family holiday in which many people return to their parents’s house for a meal and wish their elders a blessed new year by performing a deep traditional bow. Normally, the kids get an envelop of money for this, similar to Chinese culture.

Some women  will dress up in traditional Korean clothing called hanbok. The important dish to try during the Korean new year celebration is Tteokguk (soup with sliced rice cakes) and you can wash it all down with a rice wine called Soju (or even Baekseju) By the way, check out It Girl’s blog of Korean festivals too.

The Lotus Lantern Festival (Yeon Deung Hoe) is held in mid-May and is one of Korea’s oldest traditional festivals. It’s held to celebrate Buddha’s coming into this world, so basically its Buddha’s birthday celebration! Throughout the festival more than 100,000 lanterns are lit up and line the streets of Seoul. The lanterns are carefully constructed with Hanji, traditional Korean paper made from mulberry bark. Parades are an important part of this celebration which lasts 3 days. (May 6 in 2014)

JAPAN

Japanese New Year  (お正月, oshōgatsu) is celebrated on the same night as western New Years Eve, December 31st. Unlike many Americans who get together with family on Christmas, Japanese normally to ring in the new year at home. And a Japanese new year celebration wouldn’t be complete without special dishes called “osechi-ryōri”(see the photo gallery). These colorful and attractive dishes, each one symbolizing a different wish for the new year. Rocket News 24 has a great article depicting various osechi options. One very peaceful activity that foreign guests can enjoy is a temple visit after midnight or on January 1st. If the weather cooperates you can see people dressed in traditional clothing like a kimono (for women).

Bean-Throwing Festival (節分, Setsubun) is celebrated on the day before the beginning of Spring in Japan. It’s usually celebrated on February 3 as part of their Spring Festival. (春祭, haru matsuri) The activity is performed by the male head of the household or the man in the family who was born on the corresponding year of the Chinese zodiac. And what they do is throw beans out of the house or at family member wearing an Oni mask as a way to cast away demons and keep luck in. Native Foods’ blog has a great overview of the festival and more about the customs related to this Spring event.

Doll’s Day or Girls’ Day (雛祭り, Hina-matsuri) is held every March 3rd and coincides with the blossoming of peach and cherry trees across Japan. Hina-matsuri is a special day when families pray that their daughters grow up happy and healthy. This is celebrated by offering rice crackers and other foods to two dolls which look like the Emperor and Empress of the imperial court during the Heian period (794-1192). A display is setup much like how Christians display a manger scene for Christmas. But one superstition suggests that if the dolls and scenary are not put away immediately when the special day is over, the family will also slow to marry off their daughter later on.

Try combining this celebration with a visit to a Cherry blossom park (Hanami = flowering viewing) later in March or April. Cherry blossoms, or Sakura, are a Springtime experience not to be missed. It’s a must-see for anyone creating a bucket list! Cherry blossoms can be found in many countries around the world, but the feeling you get from visiting them in Northeast Asia is unparalleled.

Where the Dragons Sleep
Dragons are often thought of as mystical creatures which guard castles and evildoers in western fables, but this is a far cry from the historical presence of dragons in Chinese folklore. Here, dragons are powerful and auspicious (lucky) creatures which have command over sources of water. They are the symbol of countless emperors and appear on dynastic flags throughout thousands of years of history. In modern times, the Chinese people more frequently consider themselves the descendants of dragons, which is a tribute to their appreciation of the mythical creature. And if you can imagine these descendants riding on the back of long, scaled, immortal creatures barreling through the rivers and open seas, then you are ready to be a spectator of one of China’s oldest traditional festivals: “Dragon Boat Festival ” or Duānwǔ Jié [端午节].

But our story of the Dragon Boat festival in Macau is not simply a tale of mythical creatures, but one of a Chinese court official named “Qū Yuán,” or “Wat Yuen” in Cantonese. His patriotic tale took place during the Warring States period (475-221 BC) and was cemented into history with his suicide. Devastated by corruption at that time, and the loss of his state’s capital, he protested by jumping into the Miluo river of Hunan province. A tribute to his eloquent poetry and love of country have been memorialized by this public holiday since the 1940s and is celebrated with Dragon Boat races every year.

Alive @ Van Nam Lake!
The 2011 Dragon Boat races were held on June 4th this year and were fascinating to watch as it was my first time. Since I had been in China since 2005, I was determined to make sure I witnessed this exciting race! The thrill of this event was enough to keep a permanent smile on my face in the sweltering hot summer sun. Teams of employees, managers, and tourists alike were lining themselves up for hours in preparation for a few minutes of intense rowing. The stadium seating was mostly covered up and kept the swarms of hungry fans from getting boiled by the sun. It was 10am, and when the fluffy clouds weren’t blocking the sun’s rays, you could count your sweat in cups rather than drops.

The steel staging used for the seating areas allowed the fans, who supported their corporate teams with matching colors, to be hoisted up several meters from the original rows of seats. At this height, we could see each lane of boats from a more arial viewpoint. Luckily, for those who couldn’t find a seat, there was large outdoor screen showing off the contest digitally. Macau’s local television station filmed all of the excitement, as the beat of a drum could be heard across this dragon infested lake. A TV announcer unloaded a constant stream of Cantonese commentary which sounded more like a typical Hong Kong equestrian race than anything else. Without a doubt, the dynamic relationship of “man plus beast” was equally present here, as the dragons swerved and winded their way across the lake.

Although this was a traditional holiday, you would be forgiven for being drawn towards the casinos and luxury shopping areas of Nam Van Lake. Within direct view of the spectator areas are the Wynn, Grand Lisboa, and MGM casinos, which certainly brings a time-machine experience to this classic sporting event. A short walk down the boardwalk leads you to a banking district offering Portuguese-inspired restaurants and high-end shops such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton.

In the opposite direction, you’ll find the spectacular Macau Tower, offering one of the tallest bungee-jumping platforms in the world, and facilities hosting numerous festivals and conventions year round. One of my favorite events at this venue is the International Food Festival, which celebrates the diversity of Macau through various ethnic dishes. Every November it coincides with the Grand Prix races which require the city streets to be blocked off for three to four days. Cars and motorcycles whip through the city streets like something out of a playstation game. It’s really an amazing experience in one of the most densely populated cities in the world!

Food for the Dragons
As the Duan Wu Jie tradition dictates, a ceremonial dish called zòngzi, or sticky rice dumpling, is prepared in homes around China. It contains meat chunks and egg yolks wrapped in bamboo leaves. Finally, a twisted vine tightly wraps this seasonal snack to make it ready for cooking. When the Zongzi are finished steaming, the result looks like a rectangular, dark green, jungle grenade! Except when you pull the cord on this treat you’ll be engulfed by the natural aroma of pork, eggs, and spices. Unlike other peculiarly-flavored Chinese holiday foods, such as Moon Cakes, this dish appeals more to an international palate. Plainly put, you’re more likely to enjoy this dish than politely spit it out! (Even if you don’t have local friends in Macau, you can still find Zongzi at local convenience stores like 7-11 or Family Mart.)

Where does the tradition of making Zongzi come from? According to legend, the local people went to the river in which Qu Yuan sealed his own fate and found fish approaching his body. In order to protect him from being consumed by marine life, the people threw Zongzi to distract and feed the fish. With them feasting on the sticky rice dumplings, his body could be safely and properly taken out of the river for burial.

All in all, a visit to Hong Kong or Guangdong Province wouldn’t be complete without a one-day excursion to this little outpost of Portuguese influence. Macau is certainly a dynamic, quaint Chinese peninsula with a great mix of past and present. It will always be a treasure chest of Chinese culture waiting to be discovered by guests like yourself.

And when you arrive and visit the old alleys and historic nooks, you’ll swear you saw a dragon slipping past you down a cobblestone street. You’ll see its tail go ‘round a corner and disappear again. But, don’t go chasing it very far. You won’t be able to catch it… but you won’t need to either, because you’ll already be face to face with the warm people of Macau; descendants of the dragon.

Ben Piscopo is the author of AsianLiving.me, a blog dedicated to unveiling the secrets of healthy Asian traditions. Teaching and living in Asia since 2004, he has a deep respect for ancient cultures and the traditions that can improve the lives of our generation. He also operates an online academy for ESL students and a community of experienced online teachers called EFET.info.

Related articles:

• Happy Dragon Boat Festival – Kunming, China (travelpod.com)
• Penang International Dragon Boat Festival Day 2 on Sunday 12.06.2011 (lspeng1951.wordpress.com)
• Linking the Dragon Boat Festival to Rice Cakes (ilookchina.net)