China News Service, Shanghai, February 1 (Reporter Li Jiajia) The reporter learned on the 1st that at 17:30 on January 31, local time in France, with the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s 2024 "Happy Spring Festival" mascot-"Auspicious Dragon" "The lanterns were lit at the Yuyuan Lantern Festival in France. 60 lanterns and more than 2,000 lanterns from China bloomed instantly. The auspicious dragons and auspicious beasts based on the ancient Chinese mythology book "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" instantly shined brightly and came to life. , jointly celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France and the opening of the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism.
Lu Shaye, Chinese Ambassador to France, Guo Guangchang, Chairman of Fosun International, Eric ALAUZET, Chairman of the France-China Friendship Committee of the French National Assembly, and Marc, Director of the Paris Garden and Secretary-General of LVMH - Marc-Antoine Jamet and others pressed the "auspicious dragon" lighting keyboard in front of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's Year of the Dragon themed lamp-lighting table, thereby lighting up the French Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival that night. Xu Xiaoliang, Co-CEO of Fosun International, and Henri Giscard d'Estaing, Co-CEO of Fosun Tourism and Global President of Club Med, presented copies of "The Adventures of Mountains and Seas" to the guests. French edition books, and the mascot "朏朏" of this French Yuyuan Lantern Festival.
The "Mountains and Seas Have Spirits" themed lighting group showed the French people the fantasy world in "The Classic of Mountains and Seas". (Photo courtesy of Fosun International)
We know each other no matter how far we are, but we are still neighbors thousands of miles away. The theme of the French Yuyuan Lantern Festival is "Mountains and Seas Have Spirits", which is homophonic to "Mountains and Seas are Friendly Neighbors", which means that even though China and France are separated by mountains and seas, they still know each other as neighbors. The Yuyuan Lantern Festival, a national intangible cultural heritage that sailed overseas for the first time, is undoubtedly a special New Year gift from China to France. It has become the opening event to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France and the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism, as well as the China-France bilateral relations in 2024. A series of "high-quality" activities in cooperation. The bright night sky illuminated by the light of Sino-French friendship has become the best testimony of the friendship between the two countries.
Since ancient times, lantern viewing and garden tours have been an important folk activity between the Spring Festival and the Lantern Festival in China. People make good wishes for the New Year and convey blessings to each other in front of the colorful lanterns. This lifestyle of great oriental beauty has been passed down. For more than 2,000 years, it has been both Eastern culture and Eastern fashion.
The Yuyuan Lantern Festival in Shanghai is one of the longest-standing, most well-known and most popular New Year lantern viewing events in China. It is listed as China's national intangible cultural heritage and is a household name in Shanghai. Every year, the Yuyuan Lantern Festival attracts millions of lantern watchers.
How to present a “Chinese New Year gift” with rich oriental cultural flavor and sincere blessings to more families around the world? In 2024, the Yuyuan Lantern Festival will go overseas for the first time in the Year of the Dragon, which coincides with the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. France has become the first stop for this gift.
On the evening of December 15, 2023, local time in France, after nine months of preparation, the French Yuyuan Lantern Festival bloomed gorgeously in the Jardin d'Acclimatation, a Parisian garden built in 1860. Also on the evening of December 15th, Beijing time, on Ninghui Road in Shanghai Yuyuan Mall, the Shanghai Yuyuan Lantern Festival’s themed lighting group called “A Night of Fish and Dragon Dance” for the Year of the Dragon was also preheated and lit, and the night skies of China and France were lit up. May our friendship last forever.
The "One Night of Fish and Dragon Dance" themed lighting group on Ninghui Road in Yuyuan Mall, Shanghai. (Photo courtesy of Fosun International)
Xu Xiaoliang said: "The 29-year-old Yuyuan Lantern Festival is an important carrier of inheriting Chinese folk culture. This year we will bring the Lantern Festival to Paris, France, and the Chinese New Year flavor will also go to the world. The radiance of the two cities will not only make the French people Fully experience the charm of Chinese culture and oriental life aesthetics, and also present a gift for the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France and the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism. In the future, we will bring the Lantern Festival to more areas around the world and build it into a global Chinese brand, truly Realize the world expression of Chinese culture." (End)