AND IN THE EAST

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 80, 28 December 1929, Page 24

AND IN THE EAST

If we could travel round the world on a magic carpet and peep at the New Year celebrations in the various countries, what a wonderful variety of customs we should find. If you were in China you, might think the Chinese were celebrating all their holidays for the year at once, for. they, close their shops for several days while they make merry with feasts and fireworks and the general exchange of gifts and good wishes. In preparation every debt must have been paid, every house swept and cleaned, and each person furnished with holiday clothes and a supply of preserved fruits, sweets, and ornamental packages of tea to give to his acquaintances. The Japanese New Year festival is perhaps even gayer. No matter how poor he may be, everyone provides himself with new clothes and takes three days off from work to visit his friends or entertain them at his home. Every gatepost is adorned with dark green pines and feathery light green bamboos, while over the doorways hang vivid red lobsters and crabs, and scarlet, tangerine-like fruits, symbolical of long life and happiness. The streets are thronged with happy children playing battledore and shuttlecock the whole day long, and everyone beams with joy, bowing and wishing the compliments of the season even to perfect strangers.