Chinese Spring Festival cultural experience event held in Switzerland

by Xinhua writer Wang Qibing

SCHAFFHAUSEN, Switzerland, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The "Hello China" Spring Festival cultural experience event, jointly organized by the Schaffhausen Chinese Association and the Chinese Tourism Office in Zurich, was held on Sunday in central Schaffhausen, a northwestern city in Switzerland.

"Ancient Chinese landscape artworks, contemporary photographs of Inner Mongolian scenery, and a dancing robot made in China - all of these have left a deep impression on people," Peter Hediger, a Swiss resident who once lived in China, told Xinhua at the event.

Hediger expressed his admiration for the landscape photographs and traditional Chinese paintings on display, noting that the most surprising element was the artificial intelligence dancing robot. "This represents China's development and is worth learning from for Switzerland," he said.

"This year marks the first Chinese Spring Festival recorded in the UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage List, and it is also the China-Switzerland Cultural Tourism Year," said Jia Kejie, president of the Schaffhausen Chinese Association. "We organized this event with the theme 'Hello China' in collaboration with the Chinese Tourism Office in Zurich, hoping to deepen Swiss understanding of Chinese culture and its people."

The Spring Festival experience area combined traditional and contemporary Chinese elements, featuring red snake-year mascots, Chinese drama masks, and the traditional musical instrument Guzheng.

In addition, a Unitree dancing robot attracted considerable attention as many people rushed to shake hands with it. "A robot is here - it's so cool!" one attendee exclaimed.

"Today is the 26th day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar. According to Chinese tradition, we are still celebrating the Spring Festival," said Liu Haisheng, head of the Chinese Tourism Office in Zurich. He expressed his hope that the event would introduce the Chinese Spring Festival to the Swiss public and encourage more Swiss citizens to travel to China.

Richard Furrer, who previously worked for the Chinese branch of a Swiss manufacturer, has served as the legal advisor for the Schaffhausen Chinese Association for ten years. After studying Mandarin for eight years to communicate with his Chinese colleagues, Furrer now provides voluntary legal aid to Chinese people in Switzerland following his retirement.

Christoph Melki, a reporter for Schaffhausen Weekly, carefully documented the event with photographs. "I knew nothing about the Spring Festival before," he told Xinhua. "Perhaps only by experiencing the Spring Festival in China in person can we truly understand its meaning," he added, hinting that he might travel to China next year.