Colorful Chinese New Year celebrations held overseas

Colorful celebrations marking the Chinese New Year holiday, or the Spring Festival, have recently been held in some foreign countries including France, Peru, Austria and Italy.

This year's Spring Festival marking the start of the Chinese New Year fell on Jan 29, the first since its inclusion into the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list, ushering in a Year of the Snake, which ranks the 6th in the cycle of 12 zodiac animals on the Chinese lunar calendar.

The Spring Festival is the Chinese people's grandest traditional festival featuring family reunion. The festival is now recognized in many parts of the world, particularly in countries and regions with a large Chinese community, with nearly one-fifth of the world's population celebrating it in various ways.

On Sunday, the Champs-Elysees in Paris, France hosted a Spring Festival parade, filling the iconic avenue with the sound of gongs, drums and applauds from the audience, as well as hustling and joyful festive vibe.

The parade featured traditional Chinese dragon dance, lion dance and Yingge dance performances by a total of 300 Chinese and French artists.

"The dragon dance parade with [zodiac] snake elements on Champs-Elysees today makes me feel China is in Paris. I can always sense the presence of China in Paris. The Chinese groups here are very excellent. They are friendly, passionate and enterprising. To me, today's Champs-Elysees is China," said Daniel Vial, a Chinese Ambassador's Award laureate for his efforts in saving the Great Wall.

In Peru, several organizations including the Chinese embassy jointly held a Spring Festival gala at the Grand National Theater in Lima on Saturday, which also marked the first Peru-China Fraternity Day.

At the gala, brilliant Chinese and Peruvian artists staged a stunning show for overseas Chinese and local people, who responded with deafening applauses and cheers.

"All the performances were amazing and interesting. The Chinese culture is diverse and fascinating. Everything is beautiful and meaningful, and there are many things to appreciate. I'm glad to be here to feel and appreciate all these in person," said a local resident.

In Austria, the World Museum Vienna held an activity featuring joyful lion dance and dragon dance performances to celebrate the Spring Festival and show the charm of the rich culture and customs related to the festival to local people and tourists.

In Italy, a group of Chinese artists recently staged a flash mob performance in central Milan. The traditional Chinese folk music performances, such as the suona masterpiece Hundreds of Birds Paying Homage to Phoenix, stopped a crowd of local residents and international tourists to watch and applaud.

On December 4, 2024, UNESCO inscribed the Spring Festival, social practices of the Chinese people in celebration of the traditional new year, on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

UNESCO highlighted that the Spring Festival involves various social practices, including prayers for good fortune and family reunions. It also features activities planned by elders and festive public events organized by communities.

The U.S. dollar weakened in late trading on Wednesday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, dropped 0.72 percent to 99.142 at 15:00 (1900 GMT).

In late New York trading, the euro increased to 1.1683 dollars from 1.1574 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound was up to 1.3415 dollars from 1.3251 dollars in the previous session.

The U.S. dollar bought 158.51 Japanese yen, lower than 159.73 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar declined to 0.7914 Swiss francs from 0.7988 Swiss francs, and it fell to 1.3849 Canadian dollars from 1.3899 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar lost to 9.3069 Swedish kronor from 9.5065 Swedish kronor.