STORY: How Lantern Festival celebrated at Harbin Asian Winter Games
SHOOTING TIME: Feb. 12, 2025
DATELINE: Feb. 12, 2025
LENGTH: 00:01:56
LOCATION: HARBIN, China
CATEGORY: CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of folk activities and cultural events at the Athletes' Village
2. STANDUP (English): VICKIE LI, Xinhua correspondent
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): SHANG WING IN ADA, Athlete from Hong Kong, China
4. various of people trying folk activities at the Athletes' Village
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MUNMUN AHMED SHANTO, Language services assistant of Harbin Asian Winter Games
6. various of people trying folk activities at the Athletes' Village
7. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): SYAHIRAH BINTI ABDUL LATIFF, Staff member, Olympic Council of Asia
8. various of people trying folk activities at the Athletes' Village

STORYLINE:

STANDUP (English): VICKIE LI, Xinhua correspondent
"Hi, guys, this is Vickie with Xinhua. Today marks the Lantern Festival, and celebrations being held here really light me up."

The Lantern Festival, celebrated annually on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, falls on Wednesday this year.

A variety of folk activities and cultural events are held at the Athletes' Village, offering an opportunity to experience the traditional Chinese culture on the sidelines of the Games.
SOUNDBITE 1 (English): SHANG WING IN ADA, Athlete from Hong Kong, China
"It's great. It's so lovely to see all of these traditional Chinese crafts and arts and be able to talk to the craftsman behind the crafts and learn more about these traditional items. And now I have souvenirs, I have these lanterns that I can bring back and share with my children.
I wish everybody have a great time with their family, togetherness and be very happy for the day."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): MUNMUN AHMED SHANTO, Language services assistant of Harbin Asian Winter Games
"I feel very good to attend the Lantern Festival and I think it's also very special for me because I'm also doing the volunteering. And in our volunteering place, the Lantern Festival is going on. So it's a very good feeling for me.
I wish you all the Chinese people a Happy Lantern Festival."

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): SYAHIRAH BINTI ABDUL LATIFF, Staff member, Olympic Council of Asia
"The Lantern Festival I think it's very interesting, very rich in culture. It's nice that they have all of these initiatives to educate us about the festival, and how do they celebrate, what are the things that they have here. So I think it's nice that they bring it here for all of us to see the beautiful things that they have. It's good to have all these cultural exchanges, especially for other countries who are not very familiar with the Chinese culture and what the Lantern Festival is about. I think it's a very good initiative and for us to also have the hands-on experience of how to make the art and learn to appreciate the things that go beyond all this little decoration.
Happy Lantern Festival!"

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Harbin, China.
(XHTV)