One thing that immediately struck me when I arrived in Indonesia were the red lanterns hanging in front of many houses and shops. Naturally I wondered about why so many people had their homes decorated with those lanterns. But not in a bad way, I really like the lanterns, which give the streets a certain, almost festive atmosphere, especially at night when they spread their red light everywhere. The more lanterns I discovered the more astonished I was: Those lanterns did not look Indonesian at all, but rather very Chinese, since many of them have Chinese characters written on them. I asked a friend who then told me the people had put Chinese lanterns in front of their homes and shops in order to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year? Here in Indonesia? As a matter of fact around 3 % of the Indonesian population has Chinese origins and therefore the Chinese New Year was introduced as a public holiday in Indonesia in 2002. Now, this originally Chinese holiday is celebrated all over Indonesia.
Chinese New Year and Field Trip to Singkawang
