Chinese New Year at Diplomatic Club meeting

The Diplomatic Club at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Embassy of the People's Republic of China held a meeting in the Chinese Cultural Center of Moscow dedicated to the folk traditions of celebrating the Chinese New Year. "China-Russia relations have already become a cornerstone for maintaining peace and tranquility, struggling for equality and justice in the modern world. I am confident that in 2018, under the leadership of the two heads of state, China and Russia will continue to strengthen political and strategic mutual trust, expand comprehensive business cooperation, stimulate international strategic coordination and promote an even more powerful development of relations between our two countries," the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of China to Russia Li Hui said.

For many centuries, the Chinese New Year has been celebrated as a "spring festival". The date of the celebration varies each year, as it is determined exclusively by the lunisolar Chinese calendar. Hence the second name - the lunar New Year, which falls on February 16 in 2018. The coming year will last until February 4, 2019.

Chinese New Year celebration lasts for 15 days. People have fun, visit each other, give presents to each other. The symbol of the 2018 Chinese New Year is a dog.

"This holiday is celebrated in China with the greatest splendor, excitement and joy. It has a special place in hearts of the Chinese people.The Year of the Red Dog is considered to be the best year in China. The dog not just bark and bite but brings prosperity, happiness and success to mankind," Li Hui explained.

Rector of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry Yevgeny Bazhanov, said about the importance of the Russian-Chinese relations: "China is the greatest power of our time. This alone makes it respectful and interesting. China is moving forward fast and has made a really great leap. Such successes of China are of great interest. China is our neighbor, we should know our neighbors, communicate with them. We are not just neighbors, we are great neighbors, with a border that stretches over 4000 km."

Speaking with Vestnik Kavkaza, Yevgeny Bazhanov also drew attention to the growing interest from the Russian society in Chinese culture: "It's good when the traditions unite. We took the New Year traditions from Europe. Then there was a period when after the revolution we did not celebrate the New Year at all. In the 1930s the tradition was returned. And now we adopt certain Chinese traditions - fireworks, crackers, Chinese lanterns, maybe Chinese food, and a belief in the patronage of certain animals. "

The guests of the event enjoyed the beauty of the Chinese tea ceremony and got acquainted with the exhibition of New Year's paintings - nianhua, as well as took part in a nianhua master class.

At the end of the evening, an ensemble of traditional Chinese musical instruments from Shanghai delighted the guests with the performance of folk music of the Celestial Empire. They also surprised the guests with the performance of the Russian folk melody Kalinka-malinka.