European cities join in the celebrations

Besides arts and food, music is another bridge that brings people together during festive times.

In Birmingham, celebrated pianist Xiao Di hosted her 10th annual Didi & Friends Chinese New Year Concert, which expounded the spirit of Sino-British friendship via the form of music. This time she performed with dancer Zhou Hangyu on Thursday.

Two online concerts were hosted by the China-UK International Music Festival on Friday and Saturday — the former combining visual elements into a multimedia concert, named Nonclassical Journey, and the latter celebrating traditional Chinese music by the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.

In Paris, local Chinese communities organized a parade at the Place de la Republique on Jan 22, and another big parade was held in the city's 13th arrondissement, where the Chinatown is located, on Jan 28.

Many Parisians, locals and tourists, attended the festival, as it was also the first celebration after the parade was canceled in the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fan Hong, director of the National Image Research Center at Tsinghua University in Beijing, says Chinese New Year promotes cross-cultural communication as many cities around the world have adopted it as part of local holidays, and more people enjoy the celebration of Spring Festival.

"Chinese New Year has become an important 'bridge' that connects different peoples across the world with local Chinese, and bonds the Chinese diaspora with the Chinese cultural identity," she says.

Contact the writer at xingyi@chinadaily.com.cn