Chinese New Year

Cool Things To Do In January in 2020

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If you are visiting London for a holiday and you will be staying through January there are plenty of fun and cool things to do.

Since London is one of the most visited cities in the world, it maintains its liveliness throughout the year with spikes in activities during festive periods. The Christmas season is one of the best periods to visit London because you get to experience the capital city like no other time of the year. And the atmosphere usually maintains a festive feel throughout January 2020, but more in the first two weeks – it’s a new year.

January is one of the best months to visit London. You get to take advantage of the January sales at some of the city’s top shopping destinations. You will also find many mouth-watering hotel deals around this time of the year.

You might discover that many London attractions seem quieter than in December, which means that you have fewer queues to worry about and a great time to stroll to many of the city’s museums.

It gets quite cold in January, so do remember to wear several layers of clothes when you are exploring the streets of London in winter.

Cirque du Soleil

Source:royalalberthall.com

The popular entertainment company, Cirque du Soleil will perform AT THE Royal Albert Hall between January 12 and February 16, 2020. This is a fan favourite that promises to be as entertaining as previous performances. The company is known for its imaginative and bold productions. Be prepared to be wowed by their performance – extraordinary acrobatics, uneven bars, cerceau, and teeterboard. This makes a perfect place to go on a date.

Ice Skating at Natural History Museum

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January is also a great time to go ice skating at the Natural History Museum. The rink was set up in October and will remain open till January 12, 2020. The Natural History Museum opens up the skating rink which makes for a perfect Christmas activity and experience. We suggest booking ahead of time to guarantee your entrance. The rink is open for both adults and children, making it a cool family activity to try in January.

Chinese New Year in London

Source:thesun.co.uk

If you are in London from January to early February, then you should attend the Chinese New Year celebrations. This is going to be packed full-day event taking place in West End, including a thanksgiving ceremony at Trafalgar Square, a colourful Chinese New Year parade, Chinese art exhibitions and a variety of Chinese meals.

Crazy golf in Shoreditch

Source:plonkgolf.co.uk

Another cool thing that you can do in January or any other time of the year is golfing at the Plonk Golf venue in Shoreditch. If you are around the area visiting some of the attractions, do stop by the venue and tackle the craziest 9-hole mini golf course you have ever seen.

Crazy golfing in Hoxton

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If you are in Hoxton in January, do check out the Plonk Golf venue in the area. It is not just a mini golf venue, but also a clubhouse with a well-stocked bar. It is packed with a variety of fun games like pinball, foosball, retro arcade games, you name it!

Sports events in London

London is one of the cities that has a very interesting sport program no matter what part of the year is. Quite simply, there are a lot of sports clubs in the UK capital. Definitely the most popular sport is football, but you can also visit snooker and darts events. As far as football is concerned, the most interesting are the matches of the 5 Premier League clubs, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Arsenal, Crystal Palace and West Ham United. In addition to great football events, we believe that a visiting the William Hill World Darts Championship would also be the right way to spend quality time. Also, Dafabet Masters Snooker event is a great choice.

Ice Skating and Hyde Park

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One of the most interesting and cool winter activities you can do in London is ice skating. Although there are several ice-skating locations, however, we decided to recommend Hyde Park to you. This location is best known for skating rink as well as for food and hot chocolate. So, it’s a great place to spend your holiday season in London. Probably the most exciting part of Hyde Park is Winter Wonderland. It features a skating rink that is currently open and runs until January 5th. Ticket prices are £14.50 for adults, and £9.50 for children.

Visit more locations and save with London tourist pass

Since all of you reading this article probably don’t live in London and coming as tourists for the holiday season, then we have a great suggestion for you. London is a really big city with lots of attractive locations that are definitely worth visiting. However, paying for tickets at all places can be expensive. Fortunately, the people in charge of tourism in the British capital have designed a fantastic London tourist pass.

So, if you buy one of the London tourists pass bundles, it means that you will be able to visit some very exciting sites, museums and buildings in the city for as much as 55% lower price. This offer is really great and the buildings and locations you can visit include Madame Tussauds Museum London, The London Zoo, Buckingham Palace, Wembley Stadium Tour, London Bike Tours, Tower Bridge and many more.

Hamley’s Toy Store

Source:tripsavvy.com

You’ve probably heard of Hamley’s toy store. This store is one of the oldest in London (more than two centuries old) and definitely among the most famous toy stores in the world. It can be especially exciting if you come with children because this part will definitely be the most interesting for them. Even though you are alone while visiting London, you can visit Hamley’s toy store because it is a location with a very long tradition. You may be able to find the proper gift for someone or just window shopping.

Chinese New Year Traditions

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China is one of the oldest countries in the world, with its history dating back thousands and thousands of years. China has at least eight different linguistic groups, with hundreds of dialects. China is a very big country in terms of population, and as we said, traditions date back thousands of years. With all those factors in play, traditions tend to be different at some parts of the country. Namely, Chinese New Year traditions are different in large parts of the country, are we are going to tell you all about them.

1.    Chinese New Year’s Eve Dinner

In Chinese tradition, the New Year’s Eve Dinner is the single most important tradition for Chinese people. Like most parts of the world, celebrating New Year’s Eve dinner is all about reuniting with family, especially for those that are coming a long way from home. During the course of the dinner, fish is mostly served, with dumplings being the most important dish. Other foods are served based on personal preference, but the former are especially important to parts of Northern China. Fish and dumplings are dishes that celebrate prosperity, and another important Chinese tradition is to celebrate New Year’s Eve at home, rather than at a restaurant or other food establishments.

2.    Fireworks

Fireworks are an important part of China itself. Chinese are especially famous for their magnificent display of fireworks (remember the Olympic Games in Beijing, China, 2008). This is because fireworks are used to drive away the evil spirits in Chinese traditions. After 12 pm on Lunar New Year 2019, fireworks are launched to celebrate the upcoming year, as well as, to protect them from the evil spirits. Old Chinese traditions state that whoever launches the fireworks, will bear good luck throughout the year.

3.    Shou Sui

A common Chinese phrase, Shou Sui means “after the New Year’s Eve dinner.” After dinner, people will stay up to enjoy the fireworks. An old Chinese legend says that a legendary mythical beast named “Year” will harm any man, woman, child, and animal, that it encounters during the New Year’s Eve. The legend also states that the beast is afraid of the color red, fireworks, and loud sounds, therefore, during the New Year’s Eve, thousands upon thousands of fireworks will be launched, lots of celebratory noise will be made, and red flames will be lit in order to protect themselves from the beast.

4.    New Year Market

After the start of the New Year, a common Chinese tradition states that a market will be set up in order to continue the selling of food, clothes, fireworks, and arts.

5.    Red Packets

Many Chinese traditions focus around the banishment of evil spirits, and this one is no different. Namely, a red packet is a red envelope filled with money ranging from a few hundred to several thousand Yuan. These packets are given to married couples and elderly to young children, and it is said that the money inside will banish the evil spirits from their children, as well, as keep them healthy and give them longevity.

6.    Cleaning

In old times when bathing was not a common thing, people would bathe at the end of the year in order to welcome the New Year. In today’s age, Chinese people will do a full house cleaning in order to remove the old year and welcome the New Year.