Various activities set in Latin America to celebrate Chinese New Year

( Xinhua ) Updated: 2016-01-27 14:36

Chinese Ambassador to Venezuela Zhao Bentang (R) talks with Minister of the People's Power for Culture of Venezuela Freddy Nanez (2nd R) during the presentation of the musical "My Dream" at Teresa Carreno Theater in Caracas, capital of Venezuela, on Jan. 25, 2016. The Chinese Embassy in Venezuela will present the show "My Dream", performed by the China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe, on the occasion of the celebration of the Chinese New Year. [Xinhua/Boris Vergara]

Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia and some other Latin American countries are set to launch diverse cultural activities for the celebration of upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year to allow their people to better learn about China's rich culture.

The Chinese lunar calendar assigns an animal symbol to each year in a 12-year cycle. According to the zodiac, 2016 is the Year of the Monkey. This year marks a year of cultural exchanges between China and Latin America.

To honor this, Venezuela is putting on its first official celebration of the Chinese New Year, otherwise known as the Spring Festival, joining around 140 countries around the world in doing so.

While the Chinese Lunar New Year falls on Feb. 8 this year, Venezuela's Ministry of Culture and the Chinese embassy in the country have teamed up to put on a full program, which will last until late March.

In the presentation of the agenda to the press on Monday, Venezuelan Culture Minister Freddy Nanez said this festival is "necessary for our people to learn about each other's cultures and establish unbreakable bonds of fellowship."