China to celebrate New Year with performances
By Chimwemwe Mangazi:
performances
Malawians in Lilongwe will Friday have a taste of Chinese cultural performances as nationals of that country will be celebrating the New Year.
Chinese Ambassador to Malawi, Liu Hongyang, said Lilongwe residents will sample Chinese traditional dances, magic performances and other acts for free at the Lilongwe Game Complex in the morning before another event for invited guests at the Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in the evening.
Hongyang said one of the groups from China, Shaanxi Art Troupe, has already arrived in the country to perform on the day.
“The troupe will showcase several activities through singing, dancing, acrobatics and some magic acts. I hope Malawians will find time to patronise the performances and sample some of our exciting dances,” Hongyang said.
He said this year the Chinese Spring Festival will fall on February 5 and that the New Year is the year of the golden pig, which symbolises good health and prosperity.
Hongyang added that the festival is the time for family reunion where people will go back to their roots to reunite with parents and other relations as well as hold feasts of traditional dishes and exchange gifts especially money put in red envelopes.
The ambassador stressed that the friendship between Malawi and China is getting stronger with time and that this is what prompted them to organise events for Malawians to appreciate their cultural dances, music and other acts on the day.
He said Malawi and China share common values especially on integrity, hard work and patriotism.
“We value love, peace, respect, hard work, patriotism and integrity, just to mention a few, what I think is most important is respect, respect for family, elders, the authorities and others. We believe if we were not disciplined we could not achieve what we have today,” Hongyang said.
The Chinese New Year is a Chinese festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional Chinese calendar.
The festival is usually referred to as the Spring Festival in modern China and is one of several lunar new years in Asia.
The observances traditionally take place from the evening preceding the first day of the year to the Lantern Festival, held on the 15th day of the year.
The first day of Chinese New Year begins on the new moon that appears between January 21 and February 20.
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