Janurary 30, 2025

For many Chinese, the heart of the Spring Festival lies in family reunion. This year, what makes the festival more special is that the Spring Festival has been inscribed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This gives the Chinese festival a global connotation. The Global Times selects the opinions of some foreign experts to share their experiences and understanding of the Spring Festival.

Colin Mackerras, an Australian sinologist and Emeritus Professor at Griffith University

The initial significance of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year, was that it represented the reawakening of the natural world after the sleep of the winter. Crops were planted and livestock could breed. Family life held a very high priority.

Read more:

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202501/1327691.shtml