"Happy Chinese New Year" art and cultural show held in Kathmandu

KATHMANDU, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Artists from Anhui Province in central China made an art and cultural performance in the Nepali capital on Wednesday evening as the Chinese New Year nears.

Dances, opera face-changing, instrumental music performances, singing of local opera pieces, and magic and acrobatics shows were performed to frequent applause from more than 600 spectators.

A photo exhibition was held to highlight Anhui's tourist attractions ahead of the cultural show, organized to share "Happy Chinese New Year" which falls on Feb. 10 this year.

The cultural show is also part of Chinese New Year celebrations in Nepal, which started on Jan. 14 and shall run till Feb. 18, featuring a lantern show, kirin, dragon and lion dances, a Nepal-China friendship football match, Spring Festival fairs and the performance of traditional Chinese opera.

"I sincerely wish the Chinese people happiness and tranquility, good health and longevity, and family happiness," Dev Raj Ghimire, speaker of Nepal's House of Representatives, said before the cultural show kicked off.

Nepal and China have enjoyed good relations for generations and have made notable progress in cooperation in economic, commercial, political, social and religious areas in recent years, he told the audience.

He stressed that Nepal has totally banned all anti-China activities on its soil, as the country pursues the "one-China" principle as an established policy.

Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Chen Song said he was expecting to take advantage of the Chinese New Year celebrations to further advance people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the countries, and better use the power of culture to pave the way for people-to-people bonds and build a bridge of win-win cooperation, thus tightening the emotional bonds for the building of a China-Nepal community with a shared future.

The "Happy Chinese New Year" show was co-hosted by China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Chinese Embassy in Nepal, and co-organized by the Department of Culture and Tourism of Anhui Province and China Cultural Center in Nepal.