WELLINGTON, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of people crowded up the banks of New Zealand's Whanganui River to see colorful lanterns and various Chinese arts and crafts for the Whanganui Lantern Festival on Saturday.
At night, the Whanganui River Traders Market was lightened up by over 100 handmade lanterns.
The event is organized by the Whanganui branch of the New Zealand China Friendship Society and supported by the Whanganui District Council.
Whanganui New Zealand China Friendship Society secretary Jan McLeod told Xinhua that the event is hugely popular and draws big crowds every year.
International students from Whanganui Collegiate and Confucius Classroom students from Whanganui High School presented 24 solar terms drum, festive dance in Lijiang, piano, violin, Hulusi, and Guzheng performance and dance. Students from Shirley McDouall School of Dance also joined the show.
Local wushu martial artists in Taiji (Tai Chi) and other disciplines demonstrated their skills on the festival.
"As New Zealand China Friendship Society, our aim is to bring the Chinese, Maori/Polynesian & Pakeha Kiwi communities closer together for better understanding," McLeod told Xinhua.
She said ox-themed decorations have been sent from China especially for the event.
He Jianxin, principal of Bazhong Cambridge Young Learners English Training School, Sichuan, China, donated a big shipment of lanterns to Whanganui each year to thank Whanganui for the support to his English Training School. He used some Kiwi methods of teaching using picture books to make learning English more enjoyable for kids.
"Through the lantern festival, New Zealanders can learn more about traditional Chinese culture. In terms of cultural exchanges between New Zealand and China, civil and social forces should give full play to their advantages of flexibility and diversity, and there is much to be done," He Jianxin told Xinhua.
Some of the lanterns were provided by the China Cultural Center in Wellington. Guo Zongguang, director of the China Cultural Center in Wellington, saw the lantern festival as an opportunity to strengthen ties between both countries, promote the people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and to forge the "Happy Chinese New Year" cultural brand.
"As the city embraces multiculturalism, the Chinese culture plays a big part in events like the lantern festival and helps promote positive relationships among New Zealand's diverse population," Whanganui citizen Helena told Xinhua.
The lantern festival is usually held in February, 15 days after the Chinese New Year festivities, but this year it has been moved to May because of COVID-19 alert levels, McLeod said.
Whanganui District Council's customer services group manager, Marianne Cavanagh, said the council is supporting the lantern festival to honor its relationship with its Chinese sister city, Lijiang.
Whanganui has a formal sister city relationship with Lijiang in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan since 2019.
"The sister city relationships help Whanganui develop international friendships, leading to a mutually beneficial exchange of ideas and the development of social, cultural, economic and educational opportunities," Cavanagh said.
Whanganui held the first lantern festival in 2018. Enditem