Pomp and colour marked the prelude of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Nairobi on Wednesday.
UN chief in Kenya Zainab Hawa Bangura and Chinese Ambassador Zhou Pingjian led the start of the spring festival for the Chinese community in Kenya.
It was the first time the Lunar Year was being celebrated at the United Nations since its recognition last year.
On December 22 last year, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution by consensus to list the Lunar New Year as a UN floating holiday.
“This marks a brand new start in history and indeed a cause for celebration,” Ambassador Zhou said.
In attendance at the reception hosted by the UN offices in Nairobi, were the Russian envoy and representatives of the United Nations Environment Programme.
Diplomats and representatives from the embassies of Malaysia, Iran, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and Bangladesh also graced the occasion.
Guests were treated to a taste of Chinese calligraphy and other artistic skills like painting.
Students from the University of Nairobi’s Confucious Institute put on a show to display Chinese culture including the dragon dance, Gu Zheng (guitar) and mask dance (changing faces).
This year’s Chinese Lunar New Year is known as the Year of the Dragon and begins February 10.
The current year is the Year of the Rabbit, with the dragon hailed as the most charming among the 12 animals of the lunar calendar.
“In the traditional Chinese culture, the dragon is a symbol of auspiciousness, wisdom and strength,” Zhou said.
Others are years of the rat, ox, tiger, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig-usually in the order of the animals' arrival.
The Lunar New Year is famed as the spring festival-the oldest and most important traditional festival in China and entails a series of cultural displays.
The festival has been celebrated by the Chinese for more than 4,000 years.
“The spring festival offers a good opportunity to understand China and the Chinese people,” Zhou said.
The envoy said the festival would provide an opportunity for “mutual learning among different civilisations of the world and a better understanding of how deep and wonderful human civilisation can be”.
As part of the celebrations, the Chinese embassy has organised a grand gala on February 10 in Nairobi to showcase their culture.
“We are more than happy to celebrate the Lunar New Year with the UN and the world,” Zhou said.
“We hope that that people of all countries will enjoy better mutual understanding and friendship and work together on the Global Civilisation Initiative and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind,” the envoy said.
Bangura, who is director general of the UN offices in Nairobi, said UN secretary general António Guterres will give his message to the Chinese nation on this year’s celebrations.
During the spring festival, people prepare traditional food and drape their premises with decorations.
Ambassador Zhou said on the eve of every Lunar New Year, family members gather for the reunion dinner.
At the gatherings, they (families) mostly post festival couplet and set off fireworks to usher in the new season.
