The Spring Festival is the most important traditional festival for Chinese people, symbolizing reunion, peace, and joy. There are many traditional customs and activities during this time: hanging up calendars, posting Spring Festival couplets, worshiping the ancestors, paying respects to the Kitchen God, welcoming the God of Wealth, having a family reunion dinner, visiting relatives and friends, making pilgrimages to temples, making wishes for blessings, and ushering in the Spring for good fortune. These traditions carry the spirit and culture of the Chinese nation, embodying people’s pursuits and aspirations.
During the Spring Festival, as we review past achievements and embrace the future, every person has their own emotions and wishes. From political stability and national prosperity to personal progress and good health, from the highest halls of power to the farthest corners of society, sincere blessings and heartfelt hopes fill every stream and cover every mountain. The warmth and harmony permeating the Spring Festival are something that each of us will strive to maintain or create.
The Year of 2024, the Year of the Loong, is a time for soaring, dancing, and progress. With our heads held high, let us step into the new year together, celebrating the arrival of the Spring Festival and the Year of the Loong. Let us join in wishing for:
World peace, national prosperity, the well-being of the people, and continuous blessings.
