2025 Spring Festival: Celebrations sweep over Paris

CGTN Europe

People around the world are celebrating Chinese New Year and while old traditions are honored, there’s a new twist this year.   The Spring Festival has now been included on the United Nations list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.   The directive came from the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, where CGTN’s Ross Cullen reports.    #Paris #CNY

Transcript

00:00In a town hall in Paris, the dazzling spectacle of the lion dance, symbolizing good luck and

00:10happiness, drummers sounding the beat, part of France's celebrations of the Lunar New

00:17Year.

00:18This was the event in the capital's 10th district, traditional Chinese dances in the heart of

00:24Paris.

00:27In this neighborhood, there are 70 different nationalities who come together without religious

00:31or community tensions.

00:33It's important for us to welcome them here each year in this town hall, in their town

00:38hall, to make multiculturalism come alive.

00:43Formal ceremonies are being held across the city, including delicious spreads of Chinese

00:48food buffets for guests.

00:51Celebrations to mark the year of the snake are taking place across the French capital

00:55on different dates, but some districts have decorations up throughout the holiday period.

01:04South of the River Seine, in Paris's most famous Chinatown, a lion dance and dragons

01:10snake through the neighborhood.

01:12The show drew crowds and went off with a bang, despite the damp winter weather.

01:19The lion dance happens especially at Chinese New Year to chase away bad spirits and to

01:24bring goodwill and prosperity for the new year.

01:27The sign of the snake can mean darkness, but it also represents good luck, rebirth and

01:32regality.

01:34And events like this reaffirm shared cultural values with the Spring Festival being celebrated

01:39around the world.

01:41Ross Cullen, CGTN, Paris.

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