From left: Melissa Cherry, SVP of marketing and Cultural Tourism, Choose Chicago; David Thurm, chief operating officer, Art Institute of Chicago; Nelson Sum, global sales manager, Asia-Pacific sales, United Airlines; Julie Ma, board president, The Chinese Fine Arts Society; Zhao Weiping, Chinese consul general in Chicago; Steve Koch, Chicago deputy mayor; Ling Markovitz, board member and sponsor of the Chinese New Year Concert, Chicago Symphony Orchestra; and Steve Robinson, general manager, WFMT Radio Network and executive producer of Shanghai Spring Program.

Chicago is lining up the events in its ongoing effort to have the largest Chinese New Year celebration in North America.

The city recently announced a variety of programs in February for its third annual Lunar New Year celebration.

Melissa Cherry, senior vice-president of marketing and cultural tourism for Choose Chicago, said that Mayor Rahm Emanuel set a goal in 2013 for the city’s celebration to be tops on the continent.

“This set forth Choose Chicago’s first collaboration with the Ministry of Culture in China and the Chinese Consulate in Chicago to launch a citywide Spring Festival in 2014,” she said.

This year’s programming includes the first Midwest tour by Jackie Chan’s Long Yun Kung Fu Troupe; a new program at the Art Institute of Chicago; a Chinese New Year concert at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Center; and performances by the Chinese Fine Arts Society.

WFMT Radio and WFMT Radio Network in Chicago will broadcast and distribute a Shanghai Spring series program based on the 2015 Shanghai Spring International Music Festival.

“It’s the first program ever from a music festival in China to be introduced to the West,” said Steve Robinson, general manager of WFMT Radio Network.

Cherry said that in May 2015, Choose Chicago and the China International Cultural Association, under the guidance of China’s Ministry of Culture, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cultural collaboration.

“Chicago’s 2016 Chinese New Year celebration is the first official event honoring our MOU agreement,” Cherry continued.

Choose Chicago is an official destination marketing organization whose mission is to bring visitors to Chicago. “Chinese visitation is a critical component to our growth strategy,” added Cherry.

Chinese Consul General Zhao Weiping agreed with Cherry, stating that China continues to be the world’s biggest outbound tourism market.

“As 2016 is the China-US Tourism Year declared by President Xi Jinping and President Barack Obama during President Xi’s recent visit to the US, we are ready to work with Choose Chicago and its cultural partners on programs that will foster cultural exchanges as well as two-way tourism between China and Chicago in this important year,” Zhao said.

The Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) will feature a number of artworks with monkeys to celebrate the Chinese New Year and the Year of the Monkey in February. It will also offer free museum tours in Mandarin from Feb 13-14 and Feb 20-21 at noon. Also new for this year is the addition of Chinese noodles and dumplings at the Museum Café.

The Chinese Fine Arts Society will feature Jackie Chan’s Long Yun Kung Fu Troupe on Feb 9 and 13 at the University of Chicago’s Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts at 7:30 pm.

The Chicago Symphony Center will present a special Chinese New Year Concert on Feb 21 at 3 pm, featuring the China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra, conducted by Pang Kapang, with Chicago Symphony Orchestra cellist Katinka Kleijn as soloist.

The WFMT Radio Network’s (98.7 WFMT) “Shanghai Spring” started on Jan 6 and will run until Feb 24 on Wednesdays at 8 pm), a program produced in collaboration with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and Shanghai Spring International Music Festival.

A complete list of Chinese New Year events, including the Chinese Lunar New Year Parade in Chinatown and the Chinese New Year Lantern Festival at Navy Pier, is available at choosechicago.com/chinesenewyear/.