“Happy Chinese New Year ” Temple Fair Successfully Held in Nigeria

As the Spring Festival is approaching, the Chinese Embassy and China Cultural Center in Nigeria, in collaboration with China general chamber of commerce in Nigeria, hosted “Happy Chinese New Year” Temple Fair in Abuja on Feb, 3rd 2024.

Temple Fair full of Chinese Elements (Photo by Mrs. Chen Huiling)

Chinese elements such as lanterns, dragon, fish pattern, poetic couplet, the Chinese character "fu" (meaning blessing or happiness) and Chinese red ribbon could be seen everywhere, making the center look like a beautiful Chinatown.

H.E. Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Cui Jianchun; Hon Ja’afaru Yakubu, Chairman, House Committee on China-Nigeria Parliamentary Relations; Otumba Runsewe, Director General of National Council for Arts and Culture; members of the diplomatic community as well as Chinese and Nigerian friends attended this event.

Chinese traditional dragon dance (Photo by Mrs. Chen Huiling)

In his welcome speech, Ambassador Cui highlighted the significance of the Chinese New Year of the Dragon, the excellent diplomatic relations and the GDP (Growth, Development, Progress) strategy between China and Nigeria.

“When I mention ‘Dragon’, its 6 letters have different meanings. ‘D’ represents Development, ‘R’ stands for revival of the Economy, ‘A’ for Assistance, ‘G’ stands for Guidance, ‘O’ stands for Opportunity and ‘N’ represents Nationalism. These qualities of the Dragon resonate in our diplomatic ties with Nigeria, we look forward to further collaboration for mutual growth and development,” Ambassador Cui added.

Ambassador Cui Jianchun delivering welcome speech (Photo by Mrs. Chen Huiling)

sending mascot dragon (Photo by Mrs. Chen Huiling)

The celebration featured a vibrant showcase of cultural performances on two open stages at the same time. More than a hundred performers from China and Nigeria, including 4 dance teams from NCAC and NYSC, 12 "China Corner" schools’ dance teams, Abuja martial arts team, 4 Chinese young performers and some award winning Chinese singers performed on stage one after another. The joyful celebration lasted from 10am to 3pm so that all the participants had enough time to choose what they liked and enjoy themselves.

Chinese dance performed by Nigerian students (Photo by Mrs. Chen Huiling)

Cute girls singing and dancing Nigerian traditional dance (Photo by Mrs. Chen Huiling)

The cultural display consisted of three parts: calligraphy, paper-cutting and tea ceremony, which vividly demonstrated Chinese traditional culture and promoted mutual learning among different civilizations.

Mr. Wang Shaocong acted as master of ceremony (Photo by Mrs. Chen Huiling)

Ambassador Cui presented Special Award for Chinese Cuisine Competition Winner (Photo by Mrs. Chen Huiling)

Over 100 Chinese delicacies with unique flavors were provided by 18 stalls from 18 Chinese companies in Nigeria. Especially the Dumplings, spring rolls, fried noodles, New Year cake and other traditional snacks were sold out within minutes after becoming available to guests. The event gave each guest a chance to experience Chinese culture and taste Chinese food.

As we know, the United Nations General Assembly approved the Chinese Lunar New Year as its holiday last December. We do hope our Nigerian friends can celebrate the Chinese New Year with us as their public holiday one day.

Happy Chinese New Year to you!

By Ms. Zhang Yaping