S.African officials celebrate Chinese New Year

Pretoria February 4 (People's Daily Online) - Celebration for Chinese Traditional New Year was held at the Department of Trade and Industrialization in Pretoria, South Africa on Wednesday. Officials from various Departments attended the event. Most of them have taken Chinese courses organized by the Confucius Classroom since 2013 and are spellbound by the Chinese culture.

The venue was decorated with red lanterns, knot craft and scrolls. Zheng Wen, Cultural Councilor of the Chinese Embassy to South Africa gave a lecture on Chinese New Year, elaborating on its origin and traditions.

The audience were taught to write in Chinese calligraphy on scrolls with brush pens. As a way of bringing good luck, scrolls with blessings are often stuck on doors and walls during new year celebrations. Dumplings were also served to give an insight into traditional Chinese food.