A cracking start for 2017 Sydney Chinese New Year Celebrations

Sydney, Feb. 12(People’s Daily Online) – As the largest celebration of the Lunar New Year outside Asia, the 2017 Chinese New Year Festival in Sydney started the countdown on Feb 12. This year, an estimated 1.4 million people are expected to join and enjoy more than 80 events, ranging from art exhibitions, tea ceremony, food events and live performance to dragon boat races.

To celebrate this long-standing tradition, a firework display will be held to start the celebration on the 16th of February together with the Sydney Harbour Bridge glowing an auspicious red for 10 consecutive nights.

“This year, our lunar Lanterns exhibition features large scale artworks that honour the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac. The works have been created by talented Asian-Australian artists who have brought a modern flavour to traditional celebrations”, as Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore introduces.

Drawing inspirations from the quality of dogs’ unconditional companionship and loyalty, the Chinese artist Song Ling designed an iridescent new dog lantern which will be added to the collection and placed at the eye-catching spot under the Sydney Opera House.

Last year, the celebration attracted more than 1.3 million people. (Ziheng Zhan)