Swipe for Chinese version
Zou Xinze, the little commentator from Zhu Di Middle School introduced, “Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Today I’d like to tell you something about the Lantern Festival. “The Chinese ancients called ‘Lunar January’ as ‘Yuan Yue (元月)’, called ‘night’ as ‘Xiao (宵)’. The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the first full moon night of the year, so it is called the ‘the Yuanxiao Festival’, ‘the Lantern Festival’. “On the night of the Lantern Festival, the streets were decorated with lanterns. People enjoyed the lanterns, guessed lantern riddles, and ate sweet dumplings, which became a generations-old custom. “The formation of the Lantern Festival has a long process, which originated from the folk custom of lighting lamps and praying for happiness. it really became a national folk festival after the Han and Wei dynasties.” The young guides explained the origins of the Lantern Festival to them as they crafted Loong lanterns. They listened to the mythical story behind the idiom “adding the final touch to the loong”. Shi Hanting, another Commentator said, “One year, Zhang Sengyao was ordered by Emperor to paint four golden dragons on the walls of Anle Temple in Jinling. However, when people looked closely, they realized that these dragons all lacked eyes. And they asked Zhang Sengyao to add eyes to the dragons. Zhang Sengyao smiled and said, once the eyes are painted, these four dragons will fly away. “Everyone laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. So, Zhang Sengyao had to agree to paint eyes on two of the dragons. Just after finishing, dark clouds gathered in the sky, followed by a flash of lightning and thunder. the two dragons really broke through the wall, flew into the air, and finally disappeared into the clouds.” Jessica Andréasson told the journalist, “It's so interesting. I'm from Sweden. We have nothing like this, so we learn about it a little bit in school. But coming here and actually experiencing it is amazing. I'll tell all my friends from Sweden about what I do every day and they are super excited.” Nicole Stewart said, “I love it. This is fun. I'm very appreciative for this opportunity and excited to put this in my house to show my family. “I read news mainly on CNS on Wechat. It's always well written and easy to understand and it has interesting news. Since that I've lived here for almost a decade, but there are some things I didn't know so I always appreciate CNS.” Just now, the expert residents have made their own Loong shape lanterns and next they will cook the sweet dumpling to celebrate the lantern Festival. Zou said, “There is a folk custom of eating sweet dumplings Yuanxiao. On the lantern Festival, Yuanxiao is also called Tangyuan. They are wrapped in glutinous rice flour with sesame being paste jujube as fillings. Its name is similar to reunion, symbolizing the whole family reunion harmony and happiness and expressing a good wish for future life.” “How about taste?” “It’s delicious. Very nice.” “So delicious. Thank you.” Happy Lantern Festival! 2月23日，华漕镇举办“与外国朋友一起过元宵节”活动，西班牙、德国、美国、印度、捷克的外籍居民，新侨代表、新时代文明实践分中心讲师和诸翟学校学生志愿者在听“龙”的故事、制作“龙灯”、做元宵等一系列活动中共迎佳节，共同感受中华传统文化魅力。 来自诸翟学校七年级一班的小讲解员人之一，方施涵婷介绍道：“女士们，先生们，大家下午好。今天我要和各位说一说元宵节的由来。中国古人称“农历一月”为“元月”，称“夜晚”为“宵”。农历正月十五是一年中的第一个满月之夜，因此被称为“元宵节”、“灯节”。 “在元宵节的夜晚，街道上挂满了灯笼。人们赏灯、猜灯谜、吃汤圆，这成为了代代相传的习俗。 “元宵节的形成有一个漫长的过程，起源于点灯祈福的民间习俗。根据历史资料和民间传说，农历正月十五在西汉时期就已受到重视，但真正成为全国性民间节日是在汉魏以后。” 年轻的讲解员向我们介绍了元宵节的起源。同时，他们一边制作龙灯，一边听成语“画龙点睛”的故事。 另一位小讲解员邹鑫泽说道：“一年，张僧繇受到皇帝的命令，在金陵的安乐寺墙上画四条金龙。然而当人们仔细观察时意识到这些龙都没有眼睛，张僧繇笑着说一旦画上眼睛这四条龙就会飞走。 “听闻此言大家都大笑起来认为这太荒谬了。张僧繇只好先答应给其中两条龙画眼睛。刚刚画完天空聚集起乌云，随后闪电和雷声接踵而至。两条龙真的冲破墙壁，飞向天空最后消失在云层中。” Jessica Andréasson告诉记者：“小讲解员说的真的很有趣。我是瑞典人，在我们国家不这样过节，我们以前在学校学过一些手工活儿，但来到这真真切切地尝试过才知道它的趣味。我要告诉所有我在老家的朋友我在这里每天的生活。他们一定会很惊讶的。” Nicole Stewart说：“这是我第一次参与到传统做龙灯的活动，很有趣，感觉非常好。很感谢HICC给我这次机会参与进来。我一想到能把这么好看的龙灯带回家给我的家人看就很激动。让他们看看我做的多好！我一般是在微信上阅读CNS上的服务信息。里面的内容都很棒，写的不难，通俗易懂，而且里面的新闻都很有趣。我在上海住了也快有十年了，但我还是有很多东西是不了解的，所以我还真的很感谢CNS这个平台能提供这么多的信息。” 刚才，这些外籍居民们都已经做好他们的龙形花灯了。接下来他们要煮元宵，庆元宵啦！ 邹鑫泽介绍：“元宵节有吃甜汤圆“元宵”的民间习俗。甜汤圆“元宵”也称为“汤圆”。它们由糯米粉包裹着芝麻、豆沙、枣泥等馅料。可以通过煮、炸、蒸和煎等多种方式食用。它的名字与“团圆”相似，象征着全家团圆、和谐幸福，表达对未来生活的美好祝愿。” Jessica Andreason对做元宵情有独钟，和面、按压、放上豆沙或鲜肉的馅料，揉出一个个圆滚滚的白团子，最后一起下锅，代表团圆的元宵热气腾腾地出锅了。“我在这里参加过很多次活动，特别喜欢学习制作中国的美食，很好吃。”她表示。 本次活动在华漕国际社区中心（HICC）开展，作为CNS在全市设立的第一个线下对外信息服务站点，与CNS平台携手为华漕近80个国家和地区共计9000余名外籍人士提供更丰富的活动、更便利的涉外服务。 “通过‘和外国朋友过中国节’这个活动，不仅是将中国的优秀传统文化传输出去，更希望能帮助外籍居民融入社区、参与社区生活。”华漕镇党群办相关负责人表示。 元宵节快乐！ 滑动查看中文版
Video: Jin Wujia
Edited by Wu Wangtiancheng
