Traditional Chinese Arts Displayed in Manila

The festival, held in the famous Rizal Park's Chinese Garden beside the Manila Bay, included a series of exhibitions of Chinese lanterns, paper cutting art works, kites, Chinese paintings, 27 pictures of well-known Chinese cultural and natural heritage sites, dance and singing performances and a fireworks display.

Some of the over 10,000 visitors also enjoyed the fun of finding the answers of more than 600 riddles written in Chinese, Filipino and English.

Chinese Lantern Festival

At the event which was held two days before Chinese traditional Lantern Festival, some 600 colorful lanterns of different patterns made by Filipino-Chinese students brought an excitingly beautiful scene to the garden, while pleasant music originating in South China could be heard at every corner.

The Lantern Festival, dating back to Han Dynasty (BC206-221AD), is a traditional Chinese festival for people to enjoy the beautiful night scene of lantern lights. People march on the streets holding colorful lanterns and watch lion and dragon dances, play Chinese riddles and games and light up firecrackers.

Atienza said in his speech at the opening ceremony of the festival that the Chinese traditional culture has great influence in the Philippine history and the current social lives. He also spoke highly of Filipino Chinese who played an important role in the development of the country.

"We shall learn from each other," he said, "culture exchange is the best teacher." He believed the Phil-China Traditional Culture Festival will contribute to a closer relationship between the two countries.

Paper-cutting

Wang Suoxiu, wife of Chinese Ambassador Wang Chungui, demonstrated to all the visitors her skill of a master of the Chinese paper-cutting by cutting a red paper fish with a pair of scissors. In China, people used to decorate their homes with red paper fishes during Lunar New Year which lasts half a month to the lantern festival, because red fish symbolizes abundance and prosperity in Chinese custom.

She won loud applause when she presented the paper fish she cut to Mayor Jose Lito Atienza as a gift to all the citizens of Manila and wished their lives to become more and more prosperous.

Cultural Exchanges to Be Further Promoted

The Manila Council declared on February 12 that the last Sunday in February each year is the day to hold the Phil-China Traditional Culture Festival.

Rico Domingo, an 11 year-old Filipino boy, said he didn't know much about China, but he liked the beautiful lanterns and Chinese music. He hoped he could go to China someday and visit the sites on the pictures of Chinese cultural and natural heritages. His mother said she will send her son to study Chinese, because it will be a useful foreign language in the 21st century.

The holding of the festival was congratulated by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Arroyo said in her message to the festival that this event is an auspicious opportunity to learn more about the Chinese people as well as to discover areas in which to promote greater understanding.

"I hoped that the cultural exchange that is promoted by this presentations will ensure greater cooperation and strengthen the already vibrant relations between the Philippines and China," she said.

(People's Daily February 25, 2002)