Chinese New Year goes global in new form

The happy atmosphere of the upcoming Spring Festival will spread worldwide, thanks to a major cultural program called Happy Chinese New Year.

People learn Tai Ji during a Chinese New Year celebration in Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in Los Angeles, the United States, Feb. 18, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced on Wednesday in Beijing that 1,500 events in the program will be held in 396 cities in 133 countries and regions during the Chinese holiday.

Feb. 5 is Chinese New Year's Day according to the lunar calendar. Most events will take place from late January to the end of February.

According to Luo Shugang, minister of culture and tourism, exhibitions, art performances, parades, New Year's fairs, forums and folk art classes－along with many more genres－are to be included in the framework.

"Spring Festival is the most important festival for Chinese people," Luo said. "It is also the best reflection of traditional Chinese aesthetics. We want to share such happiness and expectations for the future with people from other countries. Chinese ideas and values can thus be better understood."

Raise the Red Lantern, a full-length ballet by the National Ballet of China, will be performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, from Feb. 9 to 18. Performers will also provide some educational sessions for local students.

At the headquarters of the United Nations in New York, the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra from Jiangsu province will present its New Year's concert on Feb. 8.

A huge parade celebrating Chinese New Year will be held on Feb. 10 in Trafalgar Square in London, which is expected to attract 700,000 people. Big parades will also unfold in Lisbon, Madrid, Buenos Aires and other cities.

The ministry has organized art troupes to celebrate Spring Festival overseas since 2001. In 2009, it launched the more comprehensive Happy Chinese New Year program to bring more diversity to the celebrations.

"It has become the most influential brand and the program with the most participants in China's international cultural communication," Luo said.

The program has entered a new phase that emphasizes tailored plans for each destination to ensure high quality and close connections with local communities and established events.

For example, Ottawa, Canada, will have Chinese dragon boat racing on ice, mixing traditional sports from the two countries.

In Auckland, New Zealand, which has staged annual fairs for Chinese Lantern Festival since 2000, folk artists and art troupes from China will join the celebration by showcasing their techniques.

Artists in Mexico City will have the chance to display their passionate imaginations in bike decoration competitions themed on the Chinese zodiac.

And some events will go to residential communities, orphanages and rest homes to spread the festive mood and improve people's understanding of Chinese culture.

This year features the first edition of Happy Chinese New Year after the Ministry of Culture and Tourism was established in a merger of the previous ministry of culture and national tourism administration.

Luo said culture and tourism are combined in many events in the upcoming program. During the Trafalgar Square parade, for instance, major promotional events of Chinese tourism will be held. In Egypt, a large multimedia show on the Giza pyramids will include a Chinese edition to attract more Chinese tourists during the Spring Festival holiday.

Events relevant to Happy Chinese New Year will become parts of 20 tourism expos worldwide as well.