Chinese Ambassador to Estonia Li Chao speaks at the Chinese New Year celebrations at the city's central square in Tallinn, Estonia, Feb. 12, 2021. Chinese New Year celebrations were held on Friday both at the city center and the Song Festival Grounds in the Estonian capital. (Xinhua/Guo Chunju)
TALLINN, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese New Year celebrations were held on Friday both at the city center and the Song Festival Grounds in the Estonian capital.
At the city's central square, a series of activities including photo exhibition, dragon dance, drum and light performances and fire show have attracted a large number of spectators.
Chinese Ambassador to Estonia Li Chao said that the Chinese Lunar New Year, the most important Chinese traditional festival, is about family reunion and visit exchanges, noting that this is the 12th Chinese New Year celebrations in Tallinn.
This year, "the coronavirus has affected people's exchanges, however, it cannot stop us from 'reunion' right now through the channel of 'Happy Chinese New Year,'" he said.
The ambassador hailed the hand-in-hand cooperation between the two countries in the fight against the pandemic, stressing the importance of unity and cooperation.
He also expressed belief that the cultural exchanges between the two countries will be deepened in the future.
Tallinn Deputy Mayor Vadim Belobrovtsev said in a speech that the annual Chinese New Year celebration in the Estonian capital since 2009 is a much-anticipated event among Tallinners.
According to Belobrovtsev, this year's celebration activities included a high-culture video broadcast from China at the city's central square and performances from the spacious field of Tallinn Song Festival Grounds, where the participants are able to observe social distancing.
The event was organized by the Culture Department of the Tallinn city government and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism.
The Chinese New Year falls on Feb. 12 this year, and according to the Chinese calendar, it is the year of the Ox. Enditem