Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival (春节）is an elaborate occasion embraced by the Chinese around the world, traditionally celebrated to mark the end of a reap harvest and the start of a new year on the lunar calendar. Typically celebrated across 2 days not just in China, but cities and countries across the globe with a concentrated Chinese population, the highly-regarded festival is reminiscent of aged-old traditions such as the gathering of an annual family reunion meal, the lighting of fire crackers, visitation from family and friends near and far and more than often or not, this results in the city coming to a standstill with everyone closing their doors for business over the holidays, opting to spend time within the closed doors of each other’s homes.
We want to hear from you – Whether you’re a seasoned writer or just someone who just relishes in taking the time to scribble your thoughts, what the Lunar New Year means to you, how the occasion is celebrated, your quirks and routines and essentially, we want to hear the meaning behind these things that matter to you, why is it that you do what you do. If you find yourself in a disconnect because you aren’t Chinese or have recently moved to Hong Kong where you’re still struggling to make sense of your place in the city, we want to hear how you’ve plan on navigating your way through the festivities, whether you pride yourself on doing as the Romans (or in this case, the Chinese) do, or perhaps you’re already feeling the dread of the inconvenience of the city coming to a standstill through 48 hours.
Why are we doing this you might ask? In the era of digital consumption, people rarely take the time to reflect and commit to a proper piece of writing when nibble-sized updates is all it takes for social media and we think, there must be people like us, who yearn to read these carefully-crafted, personal stories and we want to give you that voice and space, to share your thoughts through your words.
We are looking for a compilation of:
- True, non-fiction shorts written in first person each not more than 1000 words
- Accompanied by 3-5 pictures of anything at all that you think could help narrate your story better
Submit your shorts to: michelle@peatix.com, along with your contact details and social handles, by 20 Feb 2018 and we’ll pick some of these narratives to share them with our community through our blog & social channels. So perhaps, this is a good time to start being mindful of what the Lunar New Year means to you, collect your thoughts & let your story be heard.
