Nice, a port city in southern France, is regarded as the “Bay of Light” in view of its bright lights at night. While the large-scale traditional Chinese lantern festival, which kicked off on the evening of November 29th, turns Nice into a more dazzling city.
At night, the Phoenix Park of Nice was lit up by 550 Chinese lanterns immediately when Christian Estrosi, mayor of Nice, pressed the button of start together with French children. Then the people in a long line outside the park flooded into the park,
The Phoenix Park, a famous zoo and botanical garden in Nice, has exhibited over 50 large-scale sets of lanterns showcasing Chinese scenery, customs and mythology, among which the eighteen-meter-tall Great Wall and Terracotta Warriors, as well as two fifty-meter-long giant dragon lights, impressed visitors most.
The traditional Chinese lantern festival, listed as a Chinese intangible cultural heritage, has a long history. The lanterns exhibited are mostly from Zigong, the home of Chinese traditional lantern in Sichuan. It will run through February 23rd next year after Christmas, New Year, Chinese Spring Festival to be an important winter celebration for Nice.
In order to foster the atmosphere of traditional Chinese lantern festival, it took 6 months to make lanterns, 60 days to send them to France and more that 40 days to install them in the Phoenix Park, consuming 70 thousand square meters of silk, 40 tons of metal material, 12 thousand LED light bulbs and 22 kilometers of wire. After the festival, the light bulbs will be recycled.
Besides, the Chinese food exhibition and performances were also staged at the festival. The visitors gathered in different zones to watch peacock dance of Dai ethnic minority, face-changing stunts from Chuan Opera, traditional Kungfu and other performances; children lined up to buy sugar-coated haws on a stick and sugar figure....
Many French residents went out with their whole family amid laughter and happiness. They were taking some good shots of lanterns with cellphones and cameras. Audrey, a local resident of Nice, was introducing cultural landscapes to her kids. She said that she hasn’t seen such a grand Chinese Lantern festival with brilliant and bright colors, which conform to her image of Chinese culture. It is funny to read the notes below for them as every set of lanterns represents a story of Chinese culture.
“I thought that Chinese lanterns were all red before, but it is stunning to see such a colourful lantern exhibition.” Celine, who came to Nice for holiday, told the reporter when taking photos with her cellphone.
Christian Estrosi said in an interview that Nice has been contributing to enhancing cultural exchanges with China as this year marks 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France,. The traditional Chinese lantern festival offers French people a good chance to have an in-depth understanding of traditional Chinese festivals. He said that the direct flights between Nice and other Chinese cities are under preparation since a direct flight between Nice and Beijing was launched in August this year. It is believed that the in-depth France-China cooperation will bring more opportunities for Nice’s economic development.