Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ ａｎｄ Ｆｏｒｅｉｇｎ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓ Ｃｅｌｅｂｒａｔｅ Ｌａｎｔｅｒｎ Ｆｅｓｔｉｖａｌ ｉｎ Ｓｈｅｎｚｈｅｎ

The Shenzhen Foreign Affairs Office， the Shenzhen People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries， and the Shenzhen Municipal Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese jointly held an evening party: “Chinese and Foreign Friends Celebrate the Lantern Festival” in the China Folk Culture Village on the evening of February 22， 2005. Mayor Li Hongzhong and other municipal leaders together with more than 1，200 resident foreign businessmen and professionals from 30 countries and regions including the United States， the UK， Canada， France， Germany， Japan， the ROK， etc. as well as their family members， overseas Chinese businessmen and foreign students studying in the city， and local citizens celebrated the Lantern Festival.

At the Baiyi Square， Chinese and foreign friends sang and danced festively. In the Beijing siheyuan (quadrangle) and its surrounding places， there were all kinds of things and performances showing Chinese traditional customs such as sugar-coated haws on a stick， making sugar figurines， Chinese pinwheel， rickshaws， paper cutting， paper-cut silhouettes performing， folk embroidery， facial masks changing， Beijing opera singing without makeup and acting， storytelling， peep shows， playing caroms， etc. Both the Chinese and foreign guests enjoyed such rich Chinese folk customs. In the Dafen Village foreign friends were full of praise of the oil painters’ demonstration. In the Xinjiang Vineyard， all sorts of colourful lanterns were hung high. Chinese and foreign friends lingered before riddles written on hundreds of strips of paper hanging on strings， trying to guess the answers. In the Lijiang Street the guests ate ethnic minorities’ delicacies and barbecues， sweet dumplings in soup to their heart’s content. At the square in front of the Tibetan Stockaded Village， people played dozens of interesting games， laughing heartily. By ten o’clock， all the guests gathered at the Baiyi Square watching the dragon dance and the Torch Festival performances and the evening party reached the climax. Hand in hand， the Chinese and foreign friends sang Auld Lang Syne together， and the Folk Culture Village became a sea of joy.