**: CCTV news client.
On February 10, local time, the Kenya Federation of Overseas Chinese and the Kenya Chinese Women's Federation jointly held the first Spring Festival temple fair with the theme of "Warm Spring Festival and Celebration of the Chinese Year" in the largest shopping mall in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
At the event site, a variety of activities such as dragon and lion dances, song skewers, Henan opera performances, guzheng solo, cheongsam catwalks, interactive games, and food tastings brought a unique Chinese New Year cultural feast to Kenyan Chinese, local residents and international tourists. The scene was filled with a joyful and peaceful atmosphere.
The temple fair attracted a total of 53 Kenyan Chinese organizations and enterprises to participate, and nearly 150 performers performed at the scene.
At the booth displaying Chinese culture, qin, chess, calligraphy and painting, Chinese food, etc. attracted the attention of many local people; The various performances and traditional performances on the stage won bursts of applause, especially the dragon and lion dance performances that integrated Chinese and African elements, which aroused long-lasting applause.
This unique experience allowed the local people to have a deeper understanding of China's traditional culture, feel the lively and festive "Chinese New Year", and let the overseas Chinese in a foreign country feel the warmth of home.
Local overseas Chinese said that they came to Kenya in 2014, and this year is the tenth year, but it is the first time to participate in the temple fair here.
Tourists from Germany, India and other countries also experienced the excitement of Chinese temple fairs and expressed their love for Chinese food and Chinese cultural experiences.
It is worth mentioning that extremely difficult performances such as dragon and lion dances, martial arts, and face changes are all performed by local students from Kenyan universities. Vice-Chancellor of Egerton University in Kenya, Mr. Muwa, said that it was great to see that students from different universities in Kenya were learning Chinese culture and teaching it to other Kenyans, which was a very good trend, and hoped that the relationship between China and Kenya would be strong and continue to develop.
Bangura, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Zhou Pingjian, Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Environment Programme, Permanent Representative to UN-Habitat and Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Kenya, Xia Huang, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes Region, and people from all walks of life and local people participated in the temple fair. Bangura experienced the writing of blessing characters on the spot and put the finishing touches on the dragon dance.
Bangura said in an interview with the reporter of the main station that the temple fair was very shocking, she liked it very much, and wished everyone a happy New Year, everything is well, and everything goes well.
The Spring Festival is the most important traditional festival in China. Not long ago, the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution by consensus to designate the Spring Festival (Lunar New Year) as a United Nations holiday. As one of the four major headquarters cities of the United Nations in the world, Kenya held the Spring Festival Temple Fair for the first time, providing a rare opportunity for the local Chinese community to share traditional Chinese culture, enhance friendship and promote cultural exchanges.
Reporter丨Zhao Qian.
Intern丨Zhao Yingxin, Chen Yanhua.
Photographer丨Huang Xumu.