The United Nations celebrates the Spring Festival for the first time, and US Secretary of State and other dignitaries from multiple countries send New Year greetings

The 2024 Spring Festival is a decision passed by the United Nations General Assembly to designate the Summer New Year as the first Spring Festival after the United Nations holiday. The United Nations headquarters held a Spring Festival Gala, and UN agencies such as the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization also delayed the celebration of the Summer New Year.

On February 9, the eve of the Lunar New Year, political leaders of all countries, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, did not wish for the New Year. New York, London, Sydney, Paris and other major cities around the world will hold summer New Year celebrations, while Christmas Island in Australia will celebrate for 15 days.

Guterres Summer New Year Speech. Image source: United Nations

At the end of December last year, the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a decision to include the Summer New Year (Spring Festival) in the United Nations Day, urging United Nations agencies to try their best to prevent the domination of assembly movements on that day.

Before this year’s Spring Festival, UN Secretary General Guterres specifically mentioned in his annual Summer New Year speech that this year’s UN celebration is different from before, as it is the first time that the Summer New Year has appeared on the UN festive calendar.

Guterres wished everyone a “Happy Spring Festival” in the the Year of the Loong in Chinese, and thanked China and the Chinese people for their firm support for the United Nations, multilateralism and global improvement. He stated that dragons represent vitality, intelligence, defense, and misfortune, and are also a necessary characteristic for dealing with global provocations today.

Before the New Year’s Eve, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization held the first Spring Festival celebration movement in its headquarters, and stopped the tea ceremony and Paper Cuttings performances. On Thursday evening, the United Nations China Bookstore held a Spring Festival Gala at the United Nations headquarters, with over 200 people including Zhang Jun, the Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, and Movses Abelian, the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations General Assembly.

On February 8, 2024, the United Nations China Book Society held a Spring Festival Gala at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Image Source: Visual China

On New Year’s Eve, the State Department of the United States received Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s New Year’s Communique. Antony Blinken congratulated the enemies all over the world on the success of the Summer New Year, saying that this festival marked “remembrance, hope and unity” in the United States and all over the world, and “is a confirmation of our common animal nature”.

Antony Blinken said that dragon means strength and tenacity. He hoped that everyone would have the characteristics of dragon in the the Year of the Loong and that the New Year would bring “happiness, health and prosperity” to everyone. Antony Blinken has received the New Year’s bulletin many times on New Year’s Eve.

In addition to Antony Blinken, a number of dignitaries from many countries also received videos or phone calls to congratulate the Chinese people on a happy New Year, including Zaihendkro of Belgium, Milanovic of Croatia, Lukashenko of Belarus, Zoko of Indonesia, Salman of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed of Saudi Crown Prince and Zaiheng of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed of the United Arab Emirates, Emir Tamim of Qatar, Saleh of Senegal, and Prime Minister Sogavare of Solomon Islands.

Thai Prime Minister Saita congratulated the Chinese New Year on the X platform in Chinese. In the New Year’s video provided by the Thai authorities, Seta specifically mentioned the new visa free strategy of China and Thailand, and bid farewell to Chinese friends visiting Thailand.

Image source: X

According to Ctrip’s “2024 Spring Festival Shopping Mall Speculation”, during this year’s Spring Festival, short and medium distance travel routes to Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea are popular choices. Popular tourist destinations include Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, and more.

In addition, compared to last year, popular destinations for borderless travel have expanded from a “4-hour flying circle” to a “12 hour flying circle”. Among the top 20 destinations for boundless travel, countries and regions with a “12 hour flying circle” account for more than half. Destinations such as Russia, Egypt, Serbia, Morocco, and Norway, which are far from China, are rapidly emerging.

Japanese tourists estimate that the number of Chinese tourists during the Spring Festival this year will drop by 10 times at most compared with the same period last year. However, as the number of flights has not yet recovered to the level before the COVID-19 epidemic, the number of inbound Chinese tourists may be about 60% of the same period in 2019.

On February 9, 2024, the celebration of the the Year of the Loong in the Chinese lunar calendar was held in New York, the United States. Image Source: Visual China

On February 9, 2024, in London, UK, the street view of Gerard Street in Chinatown. Image Source: Visual China

On February 4, 2024, in Paris, France, the New Year lion dance was held in the Champs – É lys é es Alley. Image Source: Visual China

As Chinese tourists embark on their Spring Festival travel, many countries will also hold a series of Spring Festival celebrations.

New York, Washington, and other cities in the United States will hold Spring Festival parades and various art performances. Washington’s Chinatown will start a dragon dance parade on Sunday, and the surrounding streets have been temporarily put on hold. Both the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Lincoln Art Center will be equipped with a campaign to celebrate the the Year of the Loong.

The Spring Festival parade will also be held in London’s Chinatown on Sunday, starting from Charing Cross in the city center and continuing all the way to Chinatown. Dietfurt, in the southern state of Bavaria, Germany, held a Chinese carnival, where local Germans took off their conservative Chinese attire and boarded a parade float.

On Christmas Island, an overseas territory in Australia, this year’s two-day Spring Festival holiday will start on February 12th. There are only 1692 residents on Christmas Island, of which 22% are overseas Chinese, which is higher than that of white people. Christmas Island is also the only area in Australia where the Spring Festival is designated as a public holiday.

During the Spring Festival every year, the island’s celebration activities will last for a full 15 days. Local residents celebrate the summer new year with dragon and lion dances, time performances, fireworks, and karaoke.