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ASIAN Geographic can be found on board and at the following locations
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“ For last year’ s words belong to last year’ s language and next year’ s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning”
T. S. Eliot
Image © Miguel Candela CAFÉS & Restaurants
tOURISM BOARDS
Festivals can be deeply spiritual and ritualistic, or merely frivolous and fanciful. They range from rambunctious to riotous to reflective. They can also be romantic, nostalgic – even melancholy. Some ancient practices appear archaic and macabrely out of place in contemporary contexts; several are hard to stomach. Some are in danger of dying out completely, whereas others have metamorphosed, taking on modern influences and idiosyncrasies.
Asia’ s festivals can really be summed up in one word: diverse. From east to west, the region boasts a smorgasbord of the weird, the wonderful, and the downright bizarre. But whatever their flavour, festivals offer a fantastic means of immersing oneself in a foreign community’ s culture. In keeping with Passport’ s mission to equip the modern traveller with a comprehensive guide to Asia, we’ ve covered as many bases as possible, with a calendar and listings of some of the festival highlights in the region – and you’ re invited.
Journey to Mongolia for the riotous Naadam festival, which gives the Olympics a run for its money in terms of its fierce competitive edge, with three Genghis Khan-approved traditional sports( p26). Visit the Surin Elephant Roundup, which has its origins in Thailand’ s royal hunts in the Ayutthaya period( p40). In the Philippines, Easter takes a turn for the queasy as Catholic devotees re-enact the crucifixion in all its gory glory( p48). The high stakes continue at Myanmar’ s Taunggyi Fire Balloon Festival, where homemade exploding fireworks douse the audience in showers of sparks – for some, the danger is half the fun( p56). Take a turn to the Pushkar Camel Fair in India, the largest of its kind in the world( p70), and in Central Asia, get into the spirit of the widespread Nowruz celebrations( p86).
It is also with sadness that I say my farewells to the magazine, with this being my last issue. ASIAN Geographic was honoured to take home seven awards at this year’ s Media Publishers Association of Singapore gala dinner( see the scoop on p110), so I’ d like to congratulate and thank the team for all their hard work, creativity and commitment over the last year.
Wishing all our readers a festive, fabulous year ahead – and safe travels! attractions
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Newsstand Distribution ASIAN Geographic can be found in the following countries. If you have difficulty finding us on newsstands, please contact our distributors: ChinA and HONG KONG Times Publishing( HK) Ltd; INDONESIA Java Books; Philippines Alpha Stream Marketing; Malaysia Pansing Marketing Sdn Bhd; Singapore Singapore Press Holdings Ltd; THAILAND Asia Books Co Ltd
media correspondents India, Sri Lanka RMA Media, Faredoon KUKA • india @ asiangeo. com Nepal, Bangladesh Media South Asia( P) Ltd • nepal @ asiangeo. com Thailand Radius • thailand @ asiangeo. com China Hainan Periscope Social Media Company • china @ asiangeo. com Japan Keiichi ARANTANI • japan @ asiangeo. com
Other Asian Geographic Magazines Pte Ltd publications & events:
ALEX W. CAMPBELL
BEIJING / SHENZHEN / HONG KONG