STORY: Spring Festival on UNESCO list shows vitality of Chinese culture: Croatian sinologist 
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 15, 2025
DATELINE: Jan. 17, 2025
LENGTH: 00:01:03
LOCATION: Zagreb 
CATEGORY: CULTURE 

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Ivica Bakota, a Croatian sinologist
2. various of China's Spring Festival celebration
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): IVICA BAKOTA, Croatian sinologist
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): IVICA BAKOTA, Croatian sinologist
5. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): IVICA BAKOTA, Croatian sinologist       

STORYLINE:

Ivica Bakota, a Croatian sinologist, hailed UNESCO's decision to inscribe China's Spring Festival on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

UNESCO on Dec. 4 inscribed Spring Festival, social practices of the Chinese people in celebration of the traditional new year, on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The Spring Festival is a public holiday in almost 20 countries, and celebrated in various ways by about one-fifth of humanity.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): IVICA BAKOTA, Croatian sinologist
"I think it definitely shows the great vitality of the Chinese culture in general."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): IVICA BAKOTA, Croatian sinologist
"We can definitely say that the Chinese New Year became a new worldwide celebrated festival. I think it is primarily due to the impact of the Chinese culture."

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): IVICA BAKOTA, Croatian sinologist
"If you ask me what impressed me about the Chinese New Year celebration, I would say more than this kind of recognition that it receives from around the world, from these international institutions and so on, the fact that it has proven for such a long time, people still celebrate the Chinese New Year."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Zagreb.
(XHTV)