Celebrate
kids! Celebrate women! And sweep those tombs!
Um....What?
April
4 used to be celebrated as Children's Day in Taiwan. But parents had
to go along with their kids to the special school activities, so the
legislature also made the day Women's Day. The proper name of the
holiday, now, is “The Combined Holiday of Women's Day and
Children's Day.”
Today
also happens to be the fifteenth day after the spring equinox—which
means that it is also Tomb Sweeping Day in Taiwan!
I
think it might be a bit challenging to go to the graveyard, sweep and
clean the grave sites of one's ancestors, and make offerings to them,
and still have to rush off to the special presentation at school. The
women-and-children combo-holiday doesn't always fall on the same day
as Tomb-Sweeping Day, but when it does, it makes a sort of
mega-holiday!
To
find out more about Tomb-Sweeping Day, check out this earlier post.
Celebrate
Taiwan!
Taiwan
is an island nation properly called the Republic of China. It used to
be based in mainland China but got pushed out by the Communist forces
of the People's Republic of China in 1949. According to its
constitution, the ROC supposedly represents all of China, mainland
and island, but the PRC (which most of us call simply “China”)
also claims to rule all of China, mainland and island. Some people
want reunification, others don't. We'll see what happens...
I
liked this beautiful video about Taiwan, but although it promised
“English subtitles,” there were no English subtitles! Still, I
don't need to know what is being sung to enjoy seeing the beautiful
landscapes, beautiful people, and beautiful lantern festival!
This very short travel video highlights five sights to see in Taipei, the
capital city of Taiwan.
To
learn more about Taiwan, see this earlier post (scroll down to Ten-Ten).
Also
on this date:
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Plan ahead for International Pillow Fight Day on Saturday, April 7!
There's a huge pillow fight near me. Maybe there will be one near you, too! Check it out here.
