Sino-Bangla Desk: On January 20, the 2023 “Celebrate the Spring Festival and Pray for Blessings around the World” Gala and the Spring Festival Cultural Exchanges among China, India, Cambodia, and Mongolia were launched online and offline synchronously in Yunnan of China, New Delhi of India, Phnom Penh of Cambodia and Ulan Bator of Mongolia.

This activity was sponsored by the Information Office and the Office of International Affairs of the People’s Government of Yunnan Province and organized by the Yunnan Office of China News. This series of activities were rich and colorful, including the 2023 Spring Festival Gala Themed “Spring Blossoms for a Better Life” Organized by China, India, Cambodia, and Mongolia, Spring Festival Culture Week of “Beautiful China·Colorful Yunnan”, Photography and Video Exhibition of “Beautiful China·Colorful Yunnan”, “Joyous Union for the Lantern Festival” and other special programs.

As one of the highlights of the series of activities, the 2023 Spring Festival Gala Themed “Spring Blossoms for a Better Life” Organized by China, India, Cambodia, and Mongolia was launched simultaneously on the domestic and overseas platforms of China News, India’s Himalayan News Chronicle, Cambodia’s national TV and Mongolia’s Darkhan News. Artists from China, India, Cambodia, and Mongolia performed the excellent traditional cultures and ethnic customs of their own countries in the form of songs, dances, and musical instruments, and presented a sumptuous Spring Festival cultural feast to the global audience.

At the gala, Wang Hao, vice governor of the People’s Government of Yunnan Province, China, said in his speech that Yunnan is a frontier province of China’s opening to South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean Rim. In recent years, relying on the “Chinese Spring Festival”, a traditional festival of the Chinese nation, Yunnan has continuously deepened cultural exchanges with neighboring countries, which has effectively promoted communication between Chinese and the people of neighboring countries.

Cambodian Ambassador to China, Khek Sysoda, delivered a video speech, saying that the traditional friendly partnership between Cambodia and China has become increasingly close for more than half a century. Driven by the deepening exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in various fields, bilateral relations will be more stable and fruitful.

Mongolian Ambassador to China, Tuvshinghiin Ba Dheurle, said in the video speech that this activity is of great significance to promoting cultural exchanges among countries and he firmly believes that this event will deepen understanding and friendship among countries and promote exchanges in culture and tourism.

“Kunming of Yunnan and Calcutta of India are friendly cities and have established a K2K cooperation mechanism.” Nayak, chairman of the Indian Journalists Association said looks forward to further deepening the friendship between China and India and promoting cultural exchanges in Asia.

This series of activities will last for 17 days. People from China, India, Cambodia, and Mongolia and friends from all over the world will enjoy the Spring Festival delicacies, the beautiful scenery of the four countries, and the colorful arts and traditional culture through cloud technology.

The Spring Festival Culture Week of “Beautiful China·Colorful Yunnan” was launched in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, on January 20. Li Feng, a citizen of Phnom Penh, said that she saw China’s special Spring Festival products and intangible cultural heritage, such as paper-cutting, jade rabbit lamps, tile cats, and Yunnan coffee on the “Chinese Spring Festival” Stocking Street and Featured Culture Exhibition and also participated in activities such as writing Spring Festival couplets and Q&A about the cultural knowledge of the Spring Festival and gained a deeper understanding of China’s Spring Festival culture.

The Photography and Video Exhibition of “Beautiful China·Colorful Yunnan” will be presented to the global audience online on Eve of the Spring Festival (January 21). 40 high-quality photographs and 60 wonderful short videos show Yunnan’s natural scenery, traditional culture, and achievements in the building of “the Belt and Road Initiative” from multiple angles.

The special program “Joyous Union for the Lantern Festival” will be broadcast on online platforms of multiple countries on the Lantern Festival (February 5), showing the beautiful life scenes of performing lion dancing, eating Yunxiao (a sweet sticky rice ball), enjoying lanterns and solving riddles on the lanterns.