The year of the snake was ushered in with a colourful reception at Hyatt Regency Kolkata where dragons, drummers and acrobats welcomed guests.

“Anugraha kore sobai ashon grohon korun. Ab hum aaj ka karyakram shuru karte hai,” vice-consul of the Chinese consulate general, He Tengyuan, announced on stage. The young diplomat had studied Hindi for a year in Delhi and is now learning Bengali, he later told t2.

Members of India Hong De, with team leader James Liao taking the stage as the drummer, produced a short performance that had guests reaching for their mobile phone cameras. The Monkey King, from the parable of the Journey to the West, the popular 16th-century novel, made an appearance as did the Sanxing, the trinity of the three Gods... Fuk, Luk and Sou. “They stand for wealth, luck and longevity respectively,” Liao later explained.

The three gods, Fuk, Luk and Sou

Students of St. Joan’s School of Salt Lake sang a Mandarin song in chorus, which translated to Together for a Shared Future. “It was the theme song of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. I explained the meaning of each word to them,” said Sreeja Hazra, their Chinese language teacher.

Airepati Abudurusuli presented a solo number, Aska chushar shahnazilar (You Will Recall This Beauty). “In my native Xinjiang (an autonomous region in northwest China), this song is sung at happy ceremonies like weddings,” said the student from the Uyghur minority community who is learning Hindusthani classical music at Rabindra Bharati University. “I have been staying in Calcutta since October,” he added.

Guests had a chance to get acquainted with various regions of China through a photography exhibition titled ‘Man, Nature and Harmony: Beautiful China’. The spectacular Danxia landforms, also called the rainbow mountains, the Huangguoshu waterfalls in Anshun, the Zen music gate of Shaolin Temple in Mt. Songshan, the Daming Monastery in Yangzhou... the sights proved there were more places to visit in China beyond the Great Wall.

There was a large representation of the Indian Chinese community from Tangra and Tirettabazar as well as some Chinese expatriates. “We moved here three years ago. Attending this reception makes me feel like we are back home and new year is coming,” Hong Li Zhang, who is married to a Bengali, said with a smile.

The drummers of India Hong De in action

Deputing on behalf of consul general Xu Wei who was out of town, acting consul general Qin Yong said: “Spring Festival represents the blessings and warmth of spring, implying the rebirth and the renewal of everything. This year’s Spring Festival has special significance. On December 4, China’s Spring Festival was successfully inscribed as Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Spring Festival is not only for China, but also for the world. The spiritual core of Spring Festival, such as peace, harmony and unity, in line with the needs of today’s turbulent world, not only reflects the Chinese traditional culture and values, but also embodies the common yearning of people from all over the world for a better, shared future.”

A screen showed video clips of the Spring Festival from several corners of China.