| China's Spring Festival is rich in traditional culture, every passing year constantly attracting the participation of increasing numbers of people all over the world. At the same time, the Chinese Spring Festival is a business opportunity for the whole world's large number of Chinese choose to spend the holiday abroad and many foreigners choose to have nianyefan (a family reunion dinner in the eve of the lunar New Year) or go shopping for the festival together with overseas Chinese. Some foreigners say the Spring Festival is the epitome of China's development, bringing "fortune" and opportunities to the rest of the world.
During the 2010 Spring Festival, a Chinese travel team of tourists, said to be the largest in history, visited the United States.
Chinese travelers were also seen everywhere in other hotspots in Europe, Australia, Southeast Asia and South Korea. Meanwhile, many places around the world witnessed similar festive atmospheres to China. In restaurants and shops operated by Chinese, more customers came along than ever before. In some countries, Spring Festival "temple affairs" were the top choice for those out walking.
Chinese bring in "fortune"
On February 10, a tour group of more than a thousand travelers arrived in New York, flying from Shanghai. Every day for the next few days, JFK Airport in New York received hundreds more members of the group. They were then divided into four smaller groups to travel in the eastern areas of the United States. On February 16, the third day of the lunar New Year, the whole group was reunited.
The New York Travel and Tourism Board, Macy's in central New York, the largest department store in the United States; New York tourist magnet skyscraper the Empire State Building; and Cartier, one of the world's top jewellry manufacturers and retailers; joined together to welcome the group from China. Cartier pasted the big red Chinese character, "fu," on the wall of its century-old headquarters on the 5th Avenue. Its employees of Chinese descent were asked to prepare gifts for every traveler. The century-old Macy's organized lion and dragon dances on February 15, first of its kind it had organized during the Spring Festival.
On February 16, the activities reached a peak. The New York Travel and Tourism Board and the U.S. Continental Airlines and Galaxy Tour Inc. jointly organized the visitors?New York experience. From 2 p.m. to 3.30 p.m., the fifth floor of the Consulate-General of China in New York was opened to the tourists, the first time this had been done. Later, the travelers went to the largest Chinese restaurant in the United States, in New York's Chinatown, to have dinner together.
On the evening of the 16th, the Empire State Building was opened exclusively to Chinese visitors. To celebrate the festival, at 7 p.m a lighting display kicked off, so red and yellow, representing China, lit up central Manhattan New York city. At 8 p.m., the New York Tourism Board, the Continental Airlines and the Galaxy Tour Inc. jointly hosted a welcoming ceremony for the travel team on the second floor of the Empire State. Peng Keyu, China's Consul General in New York, attended it and delivered a speech.
Apart from New York, Paris, Sydney, Tokyo and Seoul also received swarms of Chinese tourists. A spokesperson from the New York Tourism Bureau, said Chinese were developing into the most vigorous group in the world tourism market and still there is potential to be tapped. Chinese travel and shopping is becoming an important income source for many places in destination countries. The spokesperson had learned some Chinese, and she said in the language that the Chinese brought? "fortune" with them.
The New Year... filled with "happy atmosphere"
During the Chinese Spring Festival, big shopping centers in Indonesia put up red lanterns. On billboards along the streets, some shops wrote "Wishing you prosperity" and "Happy New Year" in Chinese and Indonesian. Shops were decorated in strongly Chinese style. In the northern district of Jakarta the grand hall of the Orchid Garden shopping mall's hosted a Spring Festival commodities mart. All of the stalls and booths in the hall were designed to be as tall as ships, symbolizing "plain sailing." In the middle of the hall was a stage with a backdrop of Chinese-style architecture on which colorful Chinese folk arts programs were presented. Senayan center in the south district of Jakarta, the city's newest shopper magnet, exhibited chocolate sculptures of Chinese figures of warriors and horses.
An Assumption University of Thailand poll said Thais' budgeting for this festival was five times that of 2008, while money in "red packets"(hongbao) increased three times. More than half of the Thai families of Chinese descent celebrated the festival in traditional style.
In Madrid, Spain, temple fairs took place from the lunar New Year eve to the lantern festival on the fifth day of the month. The biggest and grandest event was the parade participated in by 28 teams. The organizers said that the parade included participants from among China's 56 ethnic groups, lion and dragon dancing, waist-drummers, a martial arts team and a yangge dance. Major characters from China's literary masterpieces The Monkey King, Romance of Three Kingdoms and the Dream of the Red Mansion also appeared on the streets of Madrid.
Business in Chinese restaurants and supermarkets operated by Chinese in New York usually picks up during the festival and was even better this year in the days leading up to it. One Chinese restaurant owner said that on these days they entertained more American customers than ever before, many of whom asked as soon as they entered it if the restaurant was selling dumplings at the weekend when the festival was being celebrated. Many Americans are learning about customs connected with the festival and are choosing to have nianyefan in Chinese restaurants.
A Spanish college student Jorge nchored this year's temple fair arts performance in Madrid. He said that he was very happy to be the anchor. He invited performers onto the stage for crosstalk, (a type of comedy routine popular with Chinese), to read Tang Dynasty poems and sing Chinese folk songs. He said the Chinese greeted each other with "wishing you a prosperous New Year" during the Spring Festival.
The Chinese hope the Spring Festival brings fortune and happiness to everyone in Spain, too.
China brings the "vitality of the tiger"
In Australia, Sydney's Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP said that Australians were very happy to see the coming of China's Year of the Tiger. In Indonesia, the government made Spring Festival a legal holiday in 2003. In Spain, the Madrid Municipal Government is listed as an organizer of Spring Festival temple fairs. In Thailand, almost all cities have officially organized or participate in activities celebrating the festival.
Every year, China's Spring Festival is gaining increasing support from governments and people all over the world.
American friend Jason Keynes said that as far as other countries are concerned, China's Spring Festival is a "foreign festival," or rather a traditional festival for those of Chinese descent. But nowadays, more and more foreigners were becoming involved. Especially, officials of foreign countries were paying attention to the festival, which had been rare before.
Keynes said that he believes there are many reasons for the rising spread and influence of the Chinese Spring Festival including the fascination of the Chinese culture and the integration of overseas Chinese into local populations, but more importantly, it's because China's development has brought the world opportunities. Keynes said that nowadays in the United States or in Europe or in other places around the world learning about Chinese culture was becoming "the thing to do" for people. For others, China offers business opportunities and they try to attract Chinese tourists and do business with the Chinese. Even Chinese festivals are used as opportunities to promote business.
An overseas Chinese surnamed Li has been living in the United States for nearly 50 years. In the first days after his arrival there, he said that Americans knew almost nothing about China, except that the Chinese were a nation of people with black hair and yellow skin. But today, when the Spring Festival approaches, Mr. Li is always asked by his American friends what the coming year holds--according to China's Zodiac. Mr. Li said, when he introduced the Year of the Tiger to Americans, he always told them the tiger is a symbol of China's rapid development and flourishing economy. |
