STORY: Spring Festival celebrated with parade in Mauritius
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 25, 2025
DATELINE: Jan. 27, 2025
LENGTH: 00:03:59
LOCATION: Port Louis
CATEGORY: SOCIETY/CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Spring Festival decorations in Port Louis
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): VIMLA DOOKHONY, Port Louis citizen
3. various of the parade in "China Town" of Port Louis
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): LIN ZIHONG, Vice-president of the United Chinese Association (UCA)

STORYLINE:

The upcoming Spring Festival was celebrated on Saturday in Mauritius with a parade bringing together Mauritians and Chinese in the streets of Port Louis, the country's capital.
   
The parade, organized jointly by the Chinese Embassy in Mauritius, the China Cultural Center in Mauritius, and the United Chinese Association, was attended by several hundred people in an atmosphere of joy and sharing.
   
The parade made its way to the Caudan Waterfront, where, once again, large numbers of people were waiting for the inauguration of the Chinese New Year Fair. Traditional Chinese cultural performance was organized on the esplanade to the delight of young and old alike.

Each performance was a moment of delight for the audience, who fully appreciated this mix of professional and amateur artists. The program included lion and dragon dances, music, songs, Chinese and Western dances, martial arts demonstrations, and puppet shows.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): VIMLA DOOKHONY, Port Louis citizen
"We painted 50 umbrellas which you can see here. All the white ones are done by us, with Chinese paintings like koi fish, bamboo, cherry blossom, and also calligraphy.
You know in Mauritius, Spring Festival is celebrated widely. We are all imported people, so we also do participate in the festivities. My neighbors are Chinese, and when they celebrate the Chinese festival, we also get dressed up because people will come on the other side, to greet them and to have a feast, etc. So we also dress up and we meet their relatives. They are like our relatives as well. We share food, we share sweets, and we enjoy."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): LIN ZIHONG, Vice-president of the United Chinese Association (UCA)
"We organize the parade every year, just to perpetrate our Chinese culture, and it's a way for us to promote our Chinese culture among the Mauritian population.
Because in Mauritius, we have four main festivities. We have the Chinese New Year, we have the Lantern Festival, we have the Dragon Boat Festival, and we have the Mid-Autumn Festival, the four main events that we Chinese, we celebrate in Mauritius. And all these four events are a way for us to promote our culture, because our objective, in the UCA (United Chinese Association) and the China Cultural Center, is to promote Chinese culture among the Mauritian population."

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the Spring Festival falls on Jan. 29 this year, marking the beginning of the Year of the Snake. The snake is the sixth animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac, representing wisdom, intuition, and strategic growth.
   
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Port Louis.
(XHTV)