On 6 March, Consul General Pan Qingjiang published an signed article "The Chinese Lunar New Year – A Bridge for Exchanges and Mutual Learning Among Civilizations" in South Africa's media, Business Day, Sowetan and Africa Times (Chinese online edition). The full text is as follows:
The Lunar New Year, or what we call Spring Festival in China, is the oldest and the most important traditional festival in Chinese culture. It’s a time for family reunion and ringing in the new year. The Lunar New Year symbolizes joy, harmony and peace and its Chinese name “Spring Festival” conveys the greetings and warmth of the spring season.
This year, the Chinese New Year falls on February 10. The year 2024 is marked as the year of the Dragon, according to the Chinese zodiac, which features a 12-year cycle with each year represented by a specific animal. Here in South Africa, the Spring Festival has been warmly celebrated since January, becoming a big local cultural event among peoples.
The Chinese Embassy in South Africa hosted the 2024 Happy Chinese New Year Gala at Time Square in Pretoria. The event was attended by more than 800 guests from all walks of life of China and South Africa. In his address, Chinese Ambassador Chen Xiaodong extended festive greetings to all friends and expressed commitment to bolstering the China-South Africa ties in the new era. The Henan Provincial Art Troupe of China who travelled a long way to South Africa for the occasion presented a glitzy cultural show including Shaolin kung fu, folk dances and Henan Opera. The guests enjoyed both the warmth of the festival and the charm of Chinese culture. The Chinese Consulate General in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban also held Embracing the Chinese New Year receptions respectively.
As the economic center of South Africa and home to the majority of overseas Chinese people and institutions in South Africa, Johannesburg has witnessed in particular grand celebrations of the Chinese New Year. The function hosted by the Chinese Consulate General in Johannesburg left me a deep impression. On the night of January 19th, nearly 300 guests from the consular districts of Gauteng and Free State gathered together, soaked in the festive atmosphere and the flavor of the Spring Festival. Performers from local Chinese and South African communities jointly presented a colorful cultural feast. Traditional Chinese lion dance, drum performance, Xinjiang folk dance and Zulu dance and others received warm applause from the audience, which fully reflected the friendship between the people of China and South Africa. At the Chinese calligraphy booth, many guests had the experience with great interest of writing couplets and Chinese characters of fortune, expressing their expectations for the New Year.
On February 4th, the China Media Group organized a flash mob activity at Mandela Square in Johannesburg. The trailer of the Spring Festival Gala of the Year of the Dragon was rolled out on the large screen in the square, attracting many local people to stop and watch. Young people from China and South Africa, dressed in traditional Chinese costumes, sang and danced to share the happiness of the festival. A South African university student who loves traditional Chinese culture said to me that he was so excited to join the event coming to the square quite earlier by bus from home and that he believed the “cool” trailer would enhance South African people’s appreciation and understanding of traditional Chinese culture.
On February 10th, the South Africa Chinese Community and Police Cooperation Center held a gala in Sun City with a participation of more than 1,000 Chinese and local people immersing themselves in the cultural and fireworks shows in the evening. With the surprise, many tourists from other countries said that the Spring Festival made their trip more memorable and beautiful.
On February 17th, over ten thousand people gathered in Johannesburg Chinatown joining the Spring Festival celebration held by the Chinatown Management Committee. Chinatown carries the nostalgia of all overseas Chinese to the motherland and respect for traditions and serves as a window of Chinese culture as well. The Johannesburg Chinatown became the sea of jubilation that day decorated with lanterns and filled with people, bringing the warmth of the motherland to every overseas Chinese, and welcoming all local and international friends. Along the street, people were busy watching performances, tasting the Chinese food of all kinds and socializing with dragon-shaped lanterns in their hands, experiencing the unique charm of the Spring Festival culture. When the night fell, the huge fireworks exploded in the sky and the gorgeous light illuminated every face of the audience-- black, white, yellow, brown. At that moment, all people are of one family without nationality or race. People’s hearts were beating with the splendid fireworks, with a common aspiration for a better life.
The Lunar New Year is celebrated in China and around the world. Some rough estimates suggest that the Lunar New Year is a public holiday in almost 20 countries and celebrated in various ways by about one-fifth of humanity. Traditional Lunar New Year activities are organized in nearly 200 countries and regions, bringing joy to people around the world. On December 22nd, the 78th UN General Assembly adopted a resolution by consensus to list the Lunar New Year as a UN floating holiday. South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and Premier of Free State Province Mxolisi Dukwana respectively extended Lunar New Year greetings to Chinese people and Chinese community.
The grand and colorful Spring Festival celebrations this year have attracted wide and active participation from the Chinese and South African communities, which fully demonstrates not only the charm and influence of the Spring Festival culture and but also the long existing amiable relations between the Chinese and South African people. After the difficult period of the COVID-19, the two peoples are more eager to restore and strengthen exchanges and cooperation for a beautiful future. The Spring Festival, as an important carrier of the Chinese civilization, has been playing the role of significance as a bridge for promoting exchanges and mutual learning between the two civilizations and two peoples.
Proposing the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI), Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out that a single flower does not make spring, while one hundred flowers in full blossom bring spring to the garden. As the future of all countries are closely connected, tolerance, coexistence, exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations play an irreplaceable role in advancing humanity's modernization process and making the garden of world civilizations flourish. The celebration of the Spring Festival has enhanced exchanges and mutual learning between our two civilizations and consolidated the cultural foundation for jointly building a China-South Africa and China-Africa community with a shared future.
Looking at the current world, challenges such as climate change, social division, war and conflict keep emerging; unilateralism, protectionism and the Cold War mentality are resurgent. Humankind is at a new juncture of history in its endeavor for peace and development. The Spring Festival not only inherits the philosophies of harmony, love and peace of Chinese culture, but also carries the common values of family reunion, social inclusiveness and harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature. The world embraces the Spring Festival and is expecting to embrace a better tomorrow. We look forward to celebrating the Spring Festival with the world and hope all civilizations will live in harmony, prosper together and engage in exchanges and mutual learning, and that people of all countries will enjoy better mutual understanding and friendship and work together for building a community with a shared future for mankind.
