Foreign Friends Celebrate Lantern Festival In Huanglongxi

The Chinese Lantern Festival of the Year of the Tiger—marking the traditional end of the New Year festivities—fell on February 28 this year. The Sichuan Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (SIFA) in cooperation with the Tourism Bureau of Chengdu and the Shuangliu County People’s Government held the 2010 Friendship Spring—Huanglongxi Lantern Festival Cultural Fair to give foreigners living and working in the region an opportunity to join the Chinese people in their celebrations.

Among the approximately 100 people invited to the celebration were diplomats from the consulates-general of the U.S.， Pakistan， France， the Republic of Korea and Germany based in Chengdu， and representatives of business offices， experts and scholars from Japan， Thailand， Malaysia， Russia， Canada， U.K.， Italy， the Netherlands， Belgium， Spain， Denmark， Iceland， Poland， Australia and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Xue Kang， Deputy Secretary General of the provincial government， extended warm Spring greetings to the guests and gratitude to them for their care for the development and progress of Sichuan and their valuable support and assistance to its opening up to the outside world and reconstruction after the May 2008 earthquake.

Huanglongxi， an ancient town in western Sichuan 42 km from Chengdu city proper， has a history of over 1，700 years. The foreign guests toured the town enthusiastically， fascinated by the ancient folk residences， temples， stone bridges and piers， the making of traditional folk arts and handicrafts and local delicacies， the colorful lanterns of different shapes and sizes and bustling streets. At the Lantern Festival Show， items such as unique skills of Sichuan Opera， high-pile lion dance， the Fuhe River boatmen’s chant were performed. The fire dragon dance， characteristic of Huanglongxi， presented a magnificent scene of a dragon dancing amid exploding fireworks， which brought the celebration to a climax. Some foreign friends joined in the dance to experience the joy.

Lantern Festival symbolizes reunion， the return of Spring and a fresh start for all things living. SIFA President Qin Lin said at the celebration that SIFA organized this event to provide an opportunity for foreign friends living in Sichuan to spend a genuine Chinese New Year in Huanglongxi and to see for themselves the unique features and charm of traditional Chinese culture. This will help enhance mutual understanding， strengthen contact and promote friendship and cooperation.