Chinese Spring Festival Joyously Celebrated in Paris

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, February 22, 2002

Chinese Spring Festival Joyously Celebrated in Paris

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This year saw overseas resident Chinese in a happy exciting mood and a life of festivities during the Chinese Spring Festival days in Paris. Grand multivariate celebrations were held, with over 60 mass overseas Chinese organizations attracted, and on a matchless scale to any make-up parades they had ever held and what had these overseas Chinese merrymakers not expected was that their representatives could have had an audience from the French President!

On the 13th, President Jacques Chirac at his Elysee received 150 representatives of overseas Chinese as the first audience a French President had ever accorded resident overseas Chinese throughout the French history, at which President Chirac extended through them his Lunar New Year greetings to all overseas Chinese living in France. Alongside the President's audience there were all the more a series of measures that had been adopted by the municipal government of Paris in giving added festivity to celebrations of Chinese Spring Festival. Shining on every bronze-colored European-style post at the municipal square of Paris on la Seine were seen red lanterns bringing in the happy Chinese Lunar New Year. On the 16th, overseas Chinese merrymakers issued from the 3rd and 4th districts, parading merrily in large formations in the direction of the city center of Paris. On the 18th, Delanoe as mayor of Paris hosted a grand Spring Festival reception in honor of over 3,000 overseas resident Chinese in France.

Overseas resident Chinese must all be highly touched by things so well arranged in a melting mood. Octogenarian Qian Zhixiang speaks about his life in this vein as an ethnic Chinese residing in France. "For scores of years in the past I never had a day off during the Chinese lunar New Year and I had to keep it all to myself because I had no idea of Chinese calendar and on what days should the Lunar New Year fall," he said. Things also must be more or less the same with the life experience of Lin Jiazhe as chairman of the Association of Ethnic Overseas Chinese residing in France as he said "I only spent Spring Festival days with my kith and kin back at home in China during the first few years since I had my life in France in 1964. It was only by the late 1990s that people began to observe and value the Chinese Spring Festival days in this country of France. Chinese Spring Festival celebrations had never been held so much joyously and on such a grand scale as we have seen this year."

There would have been no Chinese Spring Festival to be celebrated not to say on a grand multivariate scale and Chinese Lunar New Year's merry making by overseas Chinese without the backing of government authorities in France. It is only because of the French government backing them up that various Spring Festival celebrations could have been held on an ever bigger scale and joyously embraced both by civilians and government in such an Occidental land as France. It goes without saying that life is by itself developing. It gives much we can learn and things to know in many aspects. This is because today's China is no longer a weak country for it has already said goodbye to its deplorable weak past. It has come to enjoy an ever rising international status among the other world powers. A change of trends of the time has led people to know more about China without doubt. Spring Festival, as part of Chinese culture and carrier of its history, customs and tradition to be celebrated in France, does certainly serve its purpose in providing rich colorful glimpses into the life of people in China.

To this Counsellor Qi De'an from the consular section of the Chinese Embassy in France has put it rightly. He said that there has already been a "Spring Festival heat": Spring Festival has been celebrated on a global scale this year. This has been all the more so in France and in many a varied lively and practical way. A fact having been seen is that celebrations had already been planned by various French media in introducing Chinese culture and life on an extensive scale before arrival of the Chinese Spring Festival. Representative is a documentary film by Olivier Orne titled "Chinese in Paris" with which he said "my purpose is to share with countrymen my respect and knowledge about China and the Chinese people." Achelte with its Paris Machs and Nouvelles d'Europe in its 2nd issue had already given wide coverage on the way of life of people in China and its culture, history and progresses made. There was even a famous Chinese fashion model starring the title page of this medium.

As is known to world people, living in today's France there are altogether as many as over 200,000 overseas and ethnic Chinese. A known successful resident ethnic group, they are hard working and abiding by law and as a stabilizing force with increased influence being felt. This has come to be increasingly recognized by the French government.

France is a country attaching great value to the development and a flourising of many a varied ethnic cultures and traditions by different ethnic groups in France. During the Spring Festival days, Mayor Delanoe had thrice taken part in Spring Festival celebrations in Paris and on these occasions he had always been ready calling for a multivariate colorful life and cultures by different ethnic groups in Paris.As things are shown by Spring Festival Celebrations having been held on a world scale this year, a happy and lucky time must have all been accorded to all those of ethnic overseas Chinese in today's France since that country has a president who knows and loves Oriental China, its culture and fine tradition in a way to promise a happy future for overseas Chinese to live in that friendly country with a friendly people.

By PD Online staff member

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