Chinese Spring Festival fun is catching on in cities around the world. Armies of performing groups in Toronto, Canada came together on Saturday night to celebrate the Spring Festival. Just the same, New York's world-famous Lincoln Center hosted a Spring Festival Gala lighting up the big apple for overseas Chinese. And France's southern city of Cannes hosted the colorful Chinese Culture Week.

Sponsored by the numerous overseas Chinese organizations in the city, the Toronto Overseas Chinese Spring Festival Gala has a history of over 10 years. The evening event, featuring song and dance, instrumental performances, drama, cross talk and short sketches, attracted people from cities hundreds of miles away from Toronto, such as Ottawa and Montreal, and even New York in the US. The over 1,300-capacity Conference Center Theater that hosted the event boasted a full house.

The organizers all expressed their best wishes for China. They said China's growing economic and political strength, as well as the series of achievements in the past year, such as the fight against SARS and the successful launch of the Shenzhou 5 spaceship, not only made them proud, but also helped to glorify the image of Chinese people in the eyes of Canadian citizens. They said they would do their best to contribute to a bright future for China.

The Overseas Chinese Chorus, performing in New York on Friday night, expressed how they missed their families back home as well as their hopes for China's future with their renditions of popular Chinese songs, such as "The Clouds of My Hometown" and "Ode to My Motherland." The most well received songs were those originating from China's ethnic groups, such as "The Golden Peacock" and "Please Stay, Dear Guests from A Faraway Land." This gala in New York marks the first celebration of the Spring Festival in the city since the city government recognized it as an official holiday.

The holiday atmosphere is also being felt in France. As part of the Chinese Culture Year, the country's southern city of Cannes is celebrating a six-day-long Chinese Culture Week. The festivities include a colorful parade by some 100 Chinese overseas students living in the area. Also, one of the main streets in the down-town area of the city has been transformed into a little Chinatown. Locals can come to savor the tastes of Chinese cuisine and enjoy Chinese folk arts, including shows of Vocal Imitation, Face Changing, and Shadow Puppets.

(CCTV.com January 20, 2004)