Culture
09:59, 31-Jan-2018
Spring Festival celebrations to light up over 400 cities globally
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The Chinese Ministry of Culture will cooperate with local partners to hold galas, exhibitions, temple fairs and other events in more than 400 cities around the world to celebrate the Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, which falls on February 16.
The program is called Happy Spring Festival and is aimed at engaging international audiences in 129 countries and regions.
Minister of Culture Luo Shugang, who is visiting Spain, said festival activities had been welcomed by people worldwide over the years and he hoped that more overseas audiences will appreciate the festival's core values of joy and harmony.
People waving Spanish and Chinese flags during celebrations for the Chinese Lunar New Year /VCG file photo
People waving Spanish and Chinese flags during celebrations for the Chinese Lunar New Year /VCG file photo
Luo made the remarks at the inauguration ceremony of this year's Happy Spring Festival at the Chinese Cultural Center in Madrid. The Spanish Minister of Education, Culture and Sport Inigo Mendez de Vigo was in attendance.
An arts and cultural exhibition focusing on central China's Hunan Province was opened at the same time at the Chinese Cultural Center.
Also on Monday, the two ministers held talks and signed an agreement on cultural cooperation over the next three years.
Chinese and Canadian artists jointly perform during a concert to mark Happy Spring Festival event. /VCG file photo
Chinese and Canadian artists jointly perform during a concert to mark Happy Spring Festival event. /VCG file photo
The agreement covers fields such as visual arts, cinema, animation and video games, as well as editorial cooperation, the exchange of cultural exhibitions and measures to safeguard copyright.
Luo said China was ready to have more cultural cooperation with Spain in the frame of the Belt and Road Initiative, and such cooperation was set to lay a solid cultural foundation for a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two nations.
Mendez de Vigo highlighted the "growing interest of the Chinese public, not just for genuinely Spanish cultural activities, such as flamenco, our architecture or gastronomy, but also for more specific initiatives, such as the incorporation of the Teatro Real de Madrid into the Silk Road International Theater Union."
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Source(s): Xinhua News Agency