China's Consulate General in Dubai hosts cultural event to celebrate upcoming Spring Festival

China's Consulate General in Dubai on Wednesday hosted a cultural event to celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival, the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year .

The Spring Festival, which marks the start of a new year on the Chinese lunar calendar, is the biggest annual holiday for the Chinese people, and sees people across the country return to their hometowns for festive celebration and family reunion. This year, it falls on Jan 29, ushering in the Year of the Snake.

Entitled "Yaji Cultural Salon during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) meets China's Consulate General in Dubai," the event included a tea ceremony and other nine cultural activities like traditional Chinese flower arranging, Chinese calligraphy, paper-cut art and the Touhu or pitch-pot game.

Yaji, literally "gathering of elegance," was a common way for ancient Chinese literati to enjoy a collective cultural life.

The Song Dynasty Cultural Immersion Day has brought a diverse and rich cultural experience to the guests on site and showcased the brilliance of traditional Chinese culture in the UAE.

At the same time, the promotional video for the upcoming 2025 Spring Festival Gala produced by China Media Group (CMG) was showcased, enabling guests to fully immerse themselves in the charm of traditional Chinese culture.

The screening of the promotional video has set a joyous and auspicious tone for the event.

"The culture of the Song Dynasty can better reflect the elegant life of the Chinese literati as well as the prosperity of ordinary people's lives. Especially this year's Spring Festival is the first Spring Festival after the listing of the Spring Festival in the world intangible heritage on Dec 4, 2024. By promoting the culture of the Spring Festival in this way and spreading traditional Chinese culture, I believe it will be beneficial," said Ou Boqian, Chinese consul general in Dubai.

China's Consulate General in Dubai hosts cultural event to celebrate upcoming Spring Festival

The multilateral system is "under attack" amid global turmoil, President of the 80th UN General Assembly Annalena Baerbock warned in her remarks on Wednesday.

In her briefing on the priorities for the resumed 80th Session of the General Assembly, the UNGA president noted that the current multilateral system does not collapse all in a sudden, but "crumbles piece by piece" in divisions, compromises, and lack of political commitment.

The president called all the UN member states to defend the UN Charter and international law and promote cross-regional cooperation.

She also urged to push forward the work of the UNGA on certain critical issues with a strong majority, rather than an absolute consensus among all member states. Such act is not a failure of multilateralism, but "an affirmation of it," she said.

The foundational principles of the institution should not be eroded by appeasement, she said, calling the member states to show courage, leadership, and responsibility at the UN's "critical make-or-break moment."

"The UN needs you. Your support, your leadership, your principle, stand, your cross-regional cooperation, if we are to preserve and modernize this institution, if we are to make it, rather than break it," she said.

UNGA President warns global multilateral system "under attack"

UNGA President warns global multilateral system "under attack"