Yesterday was the first day of the Lunar New Year of the Dragon, and the Chinese in the Netherlands also held a variety of activities to celebrate this grand and festive festival of the Chinese nation with Dutch friends.
First of all, it is worth mentioning that the Tripodia theatre in the centre of Katwijk in the province of South Holland is packed to capacity, where Wu opera artists from Zhejiang Province in China present a wonderful performance of traditional Chinese theatre to a Chinese and foreign audience in the Netherlands on the first day of the Lunar New Year. The artists have come up with unique skills and performed plays such as "Three Forks" and "Three Dozen White Bone Spirits", which embody the essence of Chinese drama, and the audience was stunned, applauded, cheered, and interacted enthusiastically. The opening golden dragon dance showed the spirit of the Chinese dragon, and the popular dance "subject three" at the curtain call brought the atmosphere of the scene to a climax.
Mr. and Mrs. Tan Jian, Chinese Ambassador to the Netherlands, Sonny Spek, Acting Mayor of Katwijk, Yu Jian, Cultural Counselor, and celebrities from the Dutch overseas Chinese community, together with about 400 Dutch friends, celebrated the Chinese New Year here and enjoyed the wonderful performances.
After the performance, Acting Mayor Spek posted a number of photos on X with captions.
The performance was hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China and the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, organized by Zhejiang Wu Opera Art Research Institute, Lanxi Li Yu Drama Research Institute, China Cultural Center in The Hague, Netherlands, and Guangdong Chinese Entrepreneurs Association, and co-organized by a number of Chinese groups and merchants.
Chen Jingfeng, a well-known Chinese businessman in the Netherlands, strongly supported this event, and the Sino-Dutch Cultural and Economic Relations Foundation and Zhong Linchang, President of the Dutch Chinese Entrepreneurs Association, organized a detailed report, please pay attention to the follow-up news of the Netherlands.
Markthal, Rotterdam's famous indoor street, held a traditional Spring Festival celebration on the first day of the first lunar month, inviting a lion dance team to pick green, symbolizing good luck and prosperous business in the new year.
Since 2017, Chinese painter Xie Quan has created statues of the 12 zodiac signs according to the zodiac signs of the year on the occasion of the Chinese New Year, which are placed on the streets of Rotterdam and are in the collections of Dutch museums and institutions and private individuals. This year, her Chinese dragon appeared on Markthal, Rotterdam's indoor street, attracting onlookers from the Dutch public.
Yesterday happened to be a Saturday, usually the day of the Dutch Chinese school class, and many Chinese schools held activities to celebrate the Lunar New Year, posting many photos of the festive atmosphere on the Internet, sending greeting cards and gifts to teachers and students, making and tasting dumplings and other traditional Chinese food.
In addition to celebrating the New Year on campus, the school's martial arts Tai Chi teacher brought a lion dance on the first day of the Lunar New Year to show the charm of martial arts to Dutch friends in the city center and celebrate the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon.
In the next half month, the Spring Festival activities in the Netherlands will continue to enter the climax.