Expats celebrate New Year in Yunnan

As April comes, people in Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand begin to celebrate their New Year festival. In southwest China’s Yunnan, the international students from above-mentioned countries also gather to enjoy the festive activities.

On April 6, the celebration of Laotian New Year kicked off at Ziyun Bluebird-Yunnan Cultural and Creative Exposition in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province. Besides singing and dancing, international students from Laos made Lao delicacies on the scene. A Laotian girl even brought ingredients from her hometown by air, offering authentic tastes to participants.

Also in Kunming, the New Year celebration of Cambodia started in Kunming University of Science and Technology on April 7. To welcome the “fairy”, a goddess in Cambodian myth, the international students from Cambodia prepared flowers, fruits and foods in a bid to pray for health and fortune in the coming year. Students from China and other countries also joined the celebration.

Yunnan is one of the Chinese provinces which boast locational advantages, such as the proximity to Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand and other South and Southeast Asian countries.  

By Liu Rong, Li Zha and Li Wenjun; trans-editing by Li Hengqiang