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21 SOUTHERN MESSENGERS
“Yiwu: My story with Spring Festival”
“义乌：我的春节故事”
By Raj Kumar Khadka □ 拉吉·库玛尔 / 文
Before Chinese New Year (Chunjie in at Futian Temple on my mobile. He said,
Chinese), red lanterns in the shape of balls “We want to make porridge for Chinese
and urns have been hung on every tree in New Year and deliver it to places where
the Yiwu city! Every household is filled the elderly live. If you want to participate,
with festive joy. This atmosphere is almost you are welcome!” I feel so happy when I
like the main festival of Nepal, “Dashain”. participate in such cultural activities. More-
Here in China, people celebrate Chunjie over, this temple is dedicated to Siddhartha
with aspirations for health, progress, and Gautama Buddha, and I am a native of the
prosperity. Personally, I was eager to com- country where Buddha was born! So, I
plete pending tasks and celebrate with Chi- gathered 10 foreign friends, and we went
nese friends. I received an invitation from there together.
the Municipal Foreign Affairs Department There were eight different types of
of Yiwu City to celebrate the New Year beans. We learned how to cook them slow-
with foreign friends. ly. The beans were soaked in large pots, and
Despite the hectic workload demanding we took turns cooking them. There were
personal oversight, the prestigious invi- also many Chinese who had come to learn
tation left no room for hesitation. Indeed, about Buddhist knowledge. We exchanged
Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, epitomizes inter- good wishes for the upcoming New Year.
national inclusivity—hosting expatriates This Buddhist temple is located in a
from over 100 countries, with 70% being large park in the center of Yiwu city. The
global traders and the remainder compris- Yiwu government has set a goal of attract-
ing professionals and long-term residents. ing 10 million tourists annually within a
Municipal authorities actively foster this few years. Currently, it is estimated that
multiculturalism, with officials explicitly 650,000 visitors are coming annually.
encouraging: “If your festivals are coming, I was just leaving Futian Temple when
please invite us too! If you need any help, I received a call from the secretary of the
feel free to tell us.” “Ji Ming Shan” community where I live—
It shows that the Chinese government “We are holding a program tomorrow to
and the Chinese people want to have very exchange greetings with foreigners living
close, friendly, and brotherly relations with in our area as a celebration of New Year.
the outside world. This makes them want to There will also be a dinner. Please come!”
understand and appreciate the language and The next day, people from many coun-
culture of others more deeply, while also tries, including me, gathered there and ex-
desiring to comprehend the values and be- changed greetings. There, we learned how
liefs embedded in their own language and to write Chinese characters beautifully. We
culture, which spans over 5000 years. wore red clothes, wrote Chinese greeting
It also shows that they are striving to words on red paper, and pasted them on the
preserve the roots of their own language walls.
and culture, while also embracing and The Chinese are celebrating this New
preserving diverse world cultures and festi- Year as the Year of the Snake. The year
vals. As affection for each other's languag- before last was the Year of the Loong.
es, cultures, and festivals grows, the bonds In various snake pictures, snakes with
of friendship between those countries will golden beads in their mouths can be seen,
also strengthen. symbolizing that this year, 2025, will be
Indeed, this could be the very reason a year full of wealth or a “year of gold-
why foreigners such as we are invited en beads.” Therefore, both the Chinese
to participate in such festivals! That friends here and the foreigners living
is why we do not feel any difference here are very eager to welcome this Chi-
whether we live abroad or in our own nese New Year.
country. I was also happy when I received In Nepal, some communities also cele-
the invitation on New Year’s Eve. So, with brate this festival as the “Sonam Lhochhar”
a smiling face, I arrived at the venue a few festival. In their language, “Sonam” means
minutes early! The deputy mayor of Yiwu “year” and “Lhochhar” means “new.” Thus,
City and other officials were there to wel- not only the friendly country of China but
come guests like us. also some communities in Nepal celebrate
The program began with a welcome this festival as the New Year. In this sense,
speech, a congratulatory speech, and music Nepal and China share a close friendship
and dance, followed by a photo session in and similar cultural traditions.
Chinese costumes. Similarly, there were On behalf of all Nepalis, we would
enjoyable activities like ring tosses for like to extend our warmest wishes to our
prizes, arrow shooting at bamboo targets Chinese friends living in the country and
for rewards, and cracking conch shells in abroad, as well as to all Nepalis who cel-
hopes of finding pearls. ebrate this festival as Sonam Lhochhar in
We also returned home happily after Nepal. Happy New Year of the Snake once
organizing all the competitions, songs, and again!
music, and exchanging good wishes. Not (The author Raj Kumar Khadka is a Ne-
only did I not get home in the evening, pali who has been doing business in Yiwu
but I also received a call from the monk City, China for many years.)
