Sunday, January 1, 2012

An Introductory Glance At Oriental New Years

By Steve Chung


The Chinese New Year parade is the main occasion of the season. Find out about the unique traditional and contemporary elements of the parade.

The parade is one of the major events held during the Chinese New Year celebrations. It is lauded for its colorful pageantry and is considered to be the ideal display of ancient Chinese customs and traditions. As it is the New Year season is a time to hit home with ancient traditions and the parade becomes sort of a slide show of what Chinese traditions are all about.

China has one of the oldest cultures spreading over about five thousand years. Over such a lengthy period the country's culture has seen many changes some of which is fascinating to modern man and has evolved the way it is today. Therefore Chinese locals have tremendous pride over their culture.

The Chinese New Year parade is an event which is famous for all that it represents of the ancient Chinese traditions. But present China has introduced certain innovations to make it more acceptable to the foreign visitors who come to the country to witness the pageant. The visitors are made comfortable with modern facilities too. Thus now you will get to see the ancient Chinese customs during New Year parade with a new modern look.

Chinese New Year parade is a blend of old and new. The pattern of the marching squad is similar to American formation. The lantern parade is the older aspect in the parade. The dragon dance is one more ancient tradition which is an important feature. By and large you will see the parade representing ancient ideas with a modern touch. For example there are marching bands etc. which are totally western practice and had no place in Chinese ancient culture.

The roots of the Chinese New Year Parade lie in the early civilizations that began to come closer on a communal level many centuries ago. With neighborhood links rising into a deep friendship people started to get together and celebrate the coming of New Year in the form of processions and parades.

Today's Chinese New Year parade is not localized to a neighborhood. Rather it has become a international affair that people from different parts of the world come over to witness whereas others watch the live television coverage at their homes.

The parade is a mix of electrifying performances as well as a display of the artistry present in the Chinese culture. Gorgeous and elaborately designed floats can be seen drifting along with the parade with fancy costumes along with the dragons and lions.

The colorful sights and sounds are accompanied by lots of racket as the fireworks continue to explode all through the duration of the New Year parade. Fireworks are an important part of the New Year parade and the people really enjoy the deafening noises which would otherwise be termed as noise pollution.

The dragon dance is the ultimate celebration of Chinese New Year parade. This puppet is approximately hundred feet in height and is made of silk, paper and bamboo. The entire dragon puppet is then held up by the young men and women and made to dance to the beats of gongs and drums.




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