Festive Celebrations

Luckily, some people in Hong Kong also celebrate this water festival.

Bunting border

Meaning: An art form in which patterns are created on the floor or the ground using coloured rice, coloured sand or flower petals. Example: Let us create rangolis on the floor!

Meaning: A popular Hindu festival held in February or March that celebrates spring, love and new life. Example: Holi is a festival of spring, colours and love.

Marble

I miss Songkran, our new year in Thailand.

We can all learn about our cultures and have fun together!

There were fireworks, lion dances and reunion dinners. I ate two turnip cakes! And I received many red packets.&#160;&#160;

I visited my family in Guangzhou. We all celebrated Chinese New Year!

Meaning: A Hindu festival of lights held in October or November. Example: Let us celebrate Diwali together!

Last March Nidia and I went to Stanley to celebrate Holi. I wore a yellow sari. We brought pink powder with us. Both of us were covered in rainbows when we left!

Do you remember our Diwali in October and November, Nidia?

Flash yellow

Similar to Chinese New Year, we clean and decorate our homes before Diwali. We make decorations on the floor in the form of rangolis, using coloured sand and flower petals. We also light diyas. Diyas are oil lamps made from clay.&#160; &#160;

Meaning: A social gathering attended by members of a group of people who have not seen each other for some time. Example: This is the first time I saw my family and friends after Christmas. It is a lovely reunion indeed!

After the New Year holiday, the students went back to school. Five children from different ethnic backgrounds gathered in the canteen. After hearing about Lin’s Lunar New Year holiday, they talked about their own cultural and national festivals, and were excited about celebrating these festivals together in the coming year.&nbsp;

Au Yeung Wing Hui Lam Ching Vanessa Lee Fung King Jackie The Education University of Hong Kong

Songkran is also a water festival. It is fun to throw water at each other. Like Chinese New Year, families get together to share meals, travel and have fun during this period. Songkran takes place in April. It clashes with our school term in Hong Kong.&nbsp;

The Chinese New Year holiday was over, and the children were back at school. They gathered in the school canteen during recess.

Last April I went to the water fights in Lai Chi Kok with my parents and took a few water guns and balloons. Many people were wearing colourful Thai dresses too.

Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@visualsbyrob?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">ROB M. (@visualsbyrob)</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/guangzhou?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a> Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@pbernardon?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Pascal Bernardon</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/chinese-new-year?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a> Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@madhav?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Madhav</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/diwali?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a> Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@madhukarkumar?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Madhukar Kumar</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/diwali?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a> Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@roy12?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">partho roy</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/diwali?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a> Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@nookscribe?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Udayaditya Barua</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/diwali?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a> Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@beckerworks?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">David Becker</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/holi?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a> Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@seitamaaphotography?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Sandra Seitamaa</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/holi?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a> Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@rocinante_11?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Mick Haupt</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/water-fight?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a> Photo by <a href="https://www.pexels.com/@elina-sazonova?utm_content=attributionCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=pexels">Elina Sazonova</a> from <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/snow-city-landscape-man-4206619/?utm_content=attributionCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=pexels">Pexels</a> Photo by <a href="https://www.pexels.com/@sahil-prajapati-178989?utm_content=attributionCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=pexels">Sahil prajapati</a> from <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-photography-of-group-of-people-974320/?utm_content=attributionCopyText&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_source=pexels">Pexels</a> Photo by <a href="https://pixabay.com/images/id-989540/">Laydown</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/images/id-989540/">Pixabay</a> Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@yuweishaw?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Yuwei Shaw</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/chinese-new-year?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a> Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@wansan_99?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Wan San Yip</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/chinese-new-year?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a> Photo by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Shankar_Sakthivel&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1">Shankar Sakthivel</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/chinese-new-year?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Wikimedia</a> Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@itscharu?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Charu Chaturvedi</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/diya?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a> Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@golfarisa?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Arisa Chattasa</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/songkran?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a> Illustrations based on irasutoya.com Voiceovers with courtesy from <a href="http://ttsmp3.com">ttsmp3.com</a>

p.8 p.9 p.11 p.12 p.13, 34 p.15, 28, 35 p.17 p.19 p.22 p.25 p.26, 37 p.27 p.32, 33 p.34 p.35 p.36 p.38

I wish March would come sooner so that we can celebrate Holi together again.

This book is an outcome of the project "Development of Children's E-books to Enhance Young Learners' Gender and Cultural Awareness", under the supervision of Dr&nbsp;Jackie&nbsp;Fung King Lee. The project was supported by the Faculty Knowledge Transfer Fund (Faculty of Humanities, The Education University of Hong Kong).

Speaking of the victory of good over evil, in both Nepal and India we have the Festival of Holi in March to celebrate spring, love and new life. We rub coloured powder on each other's faces.&#160;

<a href="bookcreator://page/XJN4_3r3TmytEMvm0HuU7A">Characters</a>--------------------------p.3 Story <a href="bookcreator://page/wsWfoaeCSISBR3Qha8EmWA">Festive Celebrations</a>----------------p.4 <a href="bookcreator://page/7Jz_51qTRduLD7JNzuzI7g">In-book Dictionary</a>----------------p.31

Meaning: Thailand's most famous festival, marking the beginning of the Thai New Year.&nbsp;It is also an occasion for family reunions, temple visits, house cleaning and water fights. Example: During Songkran, we visit Buddhist temples and cleanse Buddha statues.

Wow! We all do interesting things to celebrate our own festivals. Everyone’s culture is so meaningful in its own way. Let’s celebrate our festivals together next time!

Meaning: An oil lamp usually made from clay. Example: A diya was lit up in the middle of the room.

It’s still very cold in Hong Kong. It must be very cold in Guangzhou too.  ​

Meaning: The Chinese festival marking the start of the new year, beginning on the second new moon after the winter solstice and ending on the full moon fifteen days later. It is marked by visits to family and friends, special meals, fireworks and gift giving. Example: I visited my grandparents at Chinese New Year.

Of course! Diwali is India’s festival of lights. It lasts for five days. It represents light winning over darkness and the victory of good over evil.&#160;

Name

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