Mumbai : As the Year of Dragon is around the corner, the Chinese Consulate General in Mumbai held the Chinese New Year Reception and Chinese Cultural Festival. Since Spring Festival is now a UN holiday with more than 7 billion people all over the world celebrating it fervently, over 300 people from all walks of life attended this event.
On the occasion of the Chinese Consul General, Mr. Kong Xianhua delivered a welcome speech, Mr. Kong extended his congratulations to the Indian people, he said that “India has made significant achievements in various aspects in 2023, including 7.3% economic growth rate, wonderful performance in the Asian Game held in China and Chandrayaan-3’s successful landing on the moon”.
Mr. Kong then stated that “2023 marks a year of achievement and harvest for both China and India as the China-India trade volume surpassed $ 136.2 Billion”. He further said “The Chinese Embassy in India issued a record over 1.8 Lcs visas in 2023, thus showing a new high of Indian visitors to China after the pandemic”.
He then said “The tunnel under Malabar Hill, the hardest part of the Mumbai Coastal Road project, was built with a Chinese tunnel boring machine by the efforts of both Chinese and Indian engineers”.
Reviewing China’s extraordinary achievements in 2023, Mr. Kong said that “China’s GDP has grown by 5.2% to over $17.7 trillion USD in 2023 and contributed over 30% of the global economic growth”. He further said “with 41.76 Trillion Yuan of export and import value, China has secured its position as the largest trader of goods for 7 consecutive years”. He mentioned “China auto export exceeded 5 million last year, pushing China to be the No.1 auto exporter in the world”.
He then concluded “When we enjoy peaceful and prosperous life today, we cannot forget the heroes like Dr.Kotnis who sacrificed their lives for national independence against imperialism.”
Chinese people still pay their respect and tribute to Dr. Dawrkadas Kotnis. Mr. Nagesh Bhosle,the famous Marathi actor and director, visited China recently and has made a documentary on Dr. Kotnis. The documentary underlines significant efforts for Dr. Kotnis and the great Chinese people’s war of resistance for which he has devoted his life.
Other highlights of the Chinese new year’s event :
Chinese Culture:
This event also inspired Indian friends to experience Chinese culture in an all-round, multi-angle and interactive way, especially through sister-cities, China’s development, Chinese cuisine, Kung-Fu and Beijing Opera.
Sister Cities: 2024 marks the 10th anniversary of the sister city relationship between Mumbai and Shanghai. Mr. Kong Fu’an, Director General of Foreign affairs office of Shanghai delivered an online speech, sending Shanghai’s wishes and expectations to its Mumbai friends, saying that both Shanghai and Mumbai are the economic, financial, and innovation centers, hoping two cities could work together to further the exchange and cooperation in every sector and promote the long-term friendly relations between China and India.
Further, Chengdu, sister city of Bangalore, Jinan, sister city of Nagpur and Shijiazhuang, sister city of Solapur also showed their rich history and modern development through immersive videos.
Chinese Cuisine: When Spring Festival roll out, food is part of the celebration, not to mention that Chinese food is already very popular in India. Mr. Wang Peng, a Chinese Chef showed how to make Lamian, stretched noodles to all the guests.
Chinese Kung-Fu: Harsh Verma, the first Indian Shaolin Warrior monk practiced Kung Fu, which won a round of applause.
Beijing Opera: Yogish Kale sang a famous Beijing Opera, Ode to the Pear Flower, leaving an impressive imprint on all the audience.
Conclusion:
The Chinese new year event was bursting with happiness, vividly showing that the world is a big family. Spring Festival has its special customs, pasting spring couplets, paying New Year calls and reuniting with family for TUANYUAN (reunion) meals.
