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Expats celebrate upcoming Spring Festival in Jiaxing

chinadaily.com.cn| Updated: January 17, 2023 L M S

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An expat learns how to write the Chinese character "福" with a brush pen in Jiaxing. [Photo provided to zhejiang.chinadaily.com.cn/jiaxing]

About 20 expats from India, Spain, Portugal, and other countries celebrated the upcoming Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan 22 this year, in Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang province, on Jan 13.

Under the guidance of a calligraphy teacher, they took up a brush pen to write the Chinese character "福",which means "blessing" in English, and couplets.

It is a tradition in China to display couplets and papers with the character "福" during the Spring Festival to represent one's wishes for a good year.

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Expats try their hands at paper-cutting in Jiaxing. [Photo provided to zhejiang.chinadaily.com.cn/jiaxing]

They also learned how to make paper-cutting artworks, which are used to decorate windows during the traditional Chinese festival, and make dumplings, a traditional Spring Festival food.

A Spaniard named Fernando is a senior executive of a foreign enterprise and came to Jiaxing five years ago.

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Participants of the activity show off their works. [Photo provided to zhejiang.chinadaily.com.cn/jiaxing]

He said that such activities are quite meaningful as they can help familiarize expats in the city with Chinese culture and can make them feel at home.

He also said that he feels very happy to live and work in the city, which boasts a long history, rich culture, strong public transit, and a vibrant economy.