In Chisinau, an event devoted to the Chinese New Year was organised
The Chinese today mark the New Year or Spring Festival, a tradition more than 4,000 years old, loaded with symbols and mysteries. A suite of events dedicated to the holiday was organised by the "Ion Creangă" National Children's Library in the capital, in partnership with the Embassy of the People's Republic of China and the "Confucius" Institute.
The participants listened to a piece of Chinese music performed on the erhu, also called nanhu or "southern violin" - a two-stringed Chinese musical instrument. Then, Daniela Răileanu from Cahul, a student at a university in China, told how the Chinese celebrate the New Year.
"It is a very important holiday, every Chinese person who works in another city returns to his hometown. Everyone who is close gathers at a table, they eat a lot of food, they prepare a lot of food and, of course, beautify the house", says Daniela Răileanu, a student at Nanjing University in China.
Doina Lazăr, a student from Chisinau, passionate about the Chinese language, sang about the way home of the Chinese.
"About the house... In general, in translation it means I want a house. It is a language that is not so easy to learn, a special, interesting language", says Doina Lazăr.
"For 17 years already, we have been marking this celebration at the library, year by year it is growing. Every time, we have the presence of the Chinese Embassy, which comes with gifts of books, exhibitions that represent Chinese art and culture", says the director of the "Ion Creangă" Library, Eugenia Bejan.
"We are glad that the tradition of celebrating the arrival of the New Year together with our friends from the Republic of Moldova has not been interrupted over the years. Through these events, we aim to deepen the mutual knowledge of the history and culture of our peoples", emphasised the ambassador of the People's Republic of China in Chisinau, Yan Wenbin.
The "Vocile Primaverii" choir impressed the audience with a fragment of the vocal-symphonic creation Regele YU, traditionally performed at the Spring Festival. The Chinese New Year celebration starts on January 22nd and will end on February 5th with the Lantern Festival.
