China's Spring Festival becomes a global gala

The Spring Festival, the Chinese Lunar New Year which falls on January 23rd, will be celebrated in more than 80 countries this year. China's Ministry of Culture says it will arrange some 300 cultural activities around the world, with the assistance of relevant governments.

Through a package of celebrative cultural exchange activities blandly titled Happy New Year, the ministry expects to spread China's traditional cultural values far and wide.

Hou Xianghua of the Ministry of Culture said the success in the previous two years' "Happy New Year" events abroad enabled many international friends to share in Chinese celebrations and gain awareness about China's culture and charm.

China's local authorities are taking advantage of Spring Festival celebrations overseas to promote their own specialties. Fan Yu, from the Chengdu municipal government in southwest China's Sichuan province, takes charge of organizing performance in Australia and New Zealand. A lot of work has gone into preparing the street parade in Sydney for January 29.

"One section of the parade is an eye catcher, a decorated flower float that highlights giant pandas since Chengdu is the natural habitat for the animal. Another section consists of people who dress in panda costumes to show the lovely behavior of giant pandas. Costumes from different Chinese ethnic minorities, such as Tibetan, Qiang and Yi ethnic groups will also be on display in the parade."

The official added that delicious Chengdu snacks will be on sale to local residents in Sydney during the "Happy New Year" event.

According to Fan Yu, their delegation to Sydney, which includes around 120 government officials and performing artists, is responsible to promote local culture, trade and tourism to Australians.

"The activity is arranged to promote the Chengdu city in most comprehensive ways. It will play a positive role in improving Australian people's understanding toward Chengdu city and it will pave the way for Chengdu's cultural exchanges and cooperation with Australia, particularly the city of Sydney."

Besides Australia, the United States, the U.K., even Africa, are among the destinations for the "Happy New Year" activities.

The Chinese National Acrobatic Troupe will perform in South Africa, Zambia and Lesotho in addition to Europe and America where they have been well received. Manager of the acrobatic troupe Shen Li explains.

"We have presented acrobatic shows in Europe and America. With the "Happy New Year" organized by the Ministry of Culture, we have an opportunity to perform in more places in the world. It also helps us better understand the African continent and promote Chinese acrobatics there. I hope our Africa mission will be a great success."

Earlier, the ministry's Bureau of Cultural Exchange announced that China's famous TV anchorwomen Yang Lan, Ni Ping and renowned pianist Lang Lang have been appointed as ambassadors for the "Happy New Year" event to help spread China's cultural values in select destinations across the world.

Meanwhile, the "Happy New Year" events will also be viewed on iPad to encourage interactions among netizens.