Continued from Charlotte Dragon Boat Festival – Part I the Dragon Boat Race
The cultural program started off with the traditional dragon dance from Peaceful Dragon Academy.
This is the 10th Annual Asian Festival, so the Parade of Nations consist of representatives from many countries in Asia. The parade started with Cambodia.
Cambodia is moving past its war torn history and focusing on national reconstruction. In recent years, the country has seen double digit economic growth, and seeks foreign business investment to modernize the nation and eliminate poverty. Especially since Thailand is in political chaos, Cambodia is an alternative for business investments.
China has one of the world’s oldest people and continuous civilizations, consisting of states and cultures dating back more than six millennia. It has the world’s longest continuously used written language system, and is the source of many major inventions, such as paper, the compass, gunpowder and printing.
Hmong tribe in Thailand.
India is the 7th largest country by geographical area and the 2nd most populous country in the world. Its inhabitants practice almost all major religions of the world, four of which were born there, the Vedic religion (Hinduism), Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism.
Indonesia has the largest economy in SE Asia, and is one of the emerging market economies of the world.
South Korea is also known as “The Land of the Morning Calm”. It is a global leader in the fields of education, having the world’s highest scientific literacy and second highest mathematical literacy.
Laos is known as the Land of a Million Elephants. Rice is the staple food and has cultural and religious significance, there are many traditions and rituals associated with rice production. Internet cafes are now common in the major urban centers and are popular especially with the younger generation.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, despite modern changes and globalized cultural blending, Myanmar people have been able to preserve their own lifestyles and activities that have existed since time immemorial.
Philippines consists of 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Oceans. The Philippines has one of the most sophisticated cellular phone industry in the world, and one of the highest concentration of users, the reason that the Philippines has been named as the “Texting Capital of the World.”
Thailand is often referred to as the Land of Smiles, however, literally translated it means Land of the Free. It is the world’s No.1 exporter of rice, exporting more than 6.5 million tons annually. Thai Cuisine is well-known for its balance of five fundamental flavors in each dish or the overall meal – hot/spicy, sour, sweet, salty, and bitter.
Vietnam is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in SE Asia. Vietnam is now the largest producer of cashew nuts with 1/3 global share and 2nd largest rice exporter in the world after Thailand.
Group photos, the Parade of Nations.
Ms. Hmong beauty pageant.
Lao-American girl.
The Chinese mice.
I’m so envious of his cameras, do you think he has enough?
Continued at Charlotte Dragon Boat Festival – Part III Cultural Program
19 comments
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May 19, 2009 at 3:12 am
Charlotte Dragon Boat Festival – Part I the Dragon Boat Race « Nye Noona
[...] at: Charlotte Dragon Boat Festival – Part II the Parade of Nations [...]
May 19, 2009 at 4:14 am
K
This festival is so nice and beautiful. I feel the “bonding” of different cultures in this gathering.
May 19, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Ginger
K, I think community event like this brings people together, I was surprised of the diverse people that were there, just didn’t expect and it’s kind of nice.
May 19, 2009 at 3:12 pm
seeharhed
I was going to say too.. I didn’t know that NC is that much diverse state. It is nice to see such an event and bring all kinds of people together. Kob Jai der for sharing all those lovely pictures. Oh! you probably have a nice camera yourself. So? What brand of camera do you own?
May 19, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Ginger
seeharhed, you’re welcome, and thanks for all your nice comments. I think Asian people look so much alike, it’s hard to tell our nationality and it’s nice to attend event such as this. One thing I noticed, most Wai just like Lao people.
I’ve a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTI, I bought it last year for my Laos trip, and I’m very happy with it.
May 20, 2009 at 11:54 am
seeharhed
Ginger, nice camera… I love Canon cameras. I bought my Xsi SLR the end of last year and love it!! My point and shoot SD400 camera isn’t been use much lately. I can’t wait to take my Xsi to Laos with me this coming december.
May 20, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Ginger
seeharhed, I’m very happy with mine, but the only drawback is that the lens is a bit heavy. Also I wish I brought a small camera with me to Laos, at certain time during my trip, I found that it was not very convenient to take out my XTi and wish that I had a small one as well. It’d be a good idea for you to bring both, your point and shoot will come in handy.
What part of Laos are you from, and Is this your first time going back?
May 21, 2009 at 1:42 pm
seeharhed
I was born in Vientaine. I’ve been back total of 3 times so far and I want to travel to some of the cities I haven’t been to yet. Xieng Kwang, Pakse and See Pun Don where I like to visit on my up coming trip. I still have close relatives and friends that lives in Vientaine. I really miss Laos and it is been little over 3 years since my last trip. I can’t get enough of Laos:-), especially “beerlao”.
May 22, 2009 at 1:21 am
Ginger
seeharhed, I also want to visit Xieng Kwang to see the plain of jars but didn’t have enough time, we were at the cross road, but decided to go to Luang Prabang instead.
I’m from the Pakse area, so I got to visit Pakse, passed by Phonthong also, but never get to visit See Pun Don, I heard that it’s beautiful. Sounds like this would be a fun trip, and don’t forget the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in VTE, Dec 9-Dec 18, 2009.
May 19, 2009 at 7:21 pm
William Luu
As they say, it’s not the camera(s), but how you use it that counts
That said, my Sunday was spent with 2 DSLR cameras around my neck (mine and my dads’ one). Looking at the lenses attached I’d say the guy was well prepared. It’s annoying to change lenses during events and miss out on crucial moments etc.
May 19, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Ginger
Will, I tell people that it’s not the camera, but it’s the lens. I do love the one that I’ve, the best investment ever, but the only draw back is that it’s heavy and not a telescope lens, but it works for what I need it for.
I’ve seen people with 2 cameras around their neck, seems so awkward, must be very heavy.
May 20, 2009 at 3:01 am
Cambree
Hi Ginger,
At first I thought the race was in Charlotte, N.C. but instead it’s in Cornelius. It looks like a nice city with a lake and lots of tree.
It’s a great idea to have an event like this for the community. They have many Asian countries represented in the pageant. Glad to see Burma is in the picture too. But what happened to Japan?
As always – nice photos!
May 20, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Ginger
Cambree, thanks. I wondered about Japan also, I thought I might have missed something but after looking at the program again, no Japan at all. At first I thought the sword demonstration was Japan, but it’s South Korean.
There’s not much room in Charlotte to hold event like this, and Cornelius is just an outskirt of Charlotte, so it’s not so bad, actually it is closer to us than Charlotte.
May 20, 2009 at 3:09 am
Charlotte Dragon Boat Festival – Part III Cultural Program « Nye Noona
[...] May 20, 2009 in Community, Cultural | Tags: Asian Festival, Dragon Boat Festival Continued from: Charlotte Dragon Boat Festival – Part II the Parade of Nations [...]
May 23, 2009 at 2:25 pm
mozemoua
ahaha. it bugs me when Hmong girls wears a nice Hmong outfit and then not complete their outfit by wearing the hat.
either way, everyone looks beautiful! Very color and nice dresses!
May 24, 2009 at 3:10 am
Dallas
Do you think they try to look more modern? Maybe they don’t like to put it on because it mess up their hair.
I think I know what you mean. It is like wearing traditional Lao outfit without the sash (Pah Biang).
May 25, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Ginger
Mozemoua, I thought the Hmong outfits look dashing, but noticed that one beauty pageant didn’t wear any hat but I thought that’s normal since he had the red flowers pinned to her ears.
May 24, 2009 at 3:27 am
Dallas
Interesting that the Vietnamese here still proudly display their old flag rather than the current flag.
May 25, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Ginger
Dallas, I didn’t notice but thanks for pointing it out. Since this is organized in the US, I’m not surprised, and wouldn’t be if the Lao still carry the old flag just like most Lao French do, but here in the US, we seem to be accepting the new Lao flag.