海外華人迎新春 悉尼同胞慶兔年
Sydney is hopping with excitement ahead of Chinese New Year celebrations, with more than 600,000 locals and overseas visitors set to welcome the Year of the Rabbit.
The four-footed furry creature, symbolising endurance, beauty, peace and hope, sits in fourth position on the Chinese calendar.
"The Chinese New Year celebration really focuses on one of the major groups that live here, and they're very much a developing part of our Australian culture," Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said on Thursday.
More than 50 free festival events will be on offer from January 28 to February 13.
The celebrations kick off on Friday evening at Belmore Park in the heart of Sydney's Asian community.
Festival markets, exclusive performances, fireworks and the best of local Asian cuisine will be available at the park.
The City of Sydney has partnered with China's Hubei province to bring a fighting theme to this year's celebrations.
Wudang, a form of martial arts from Hubei that featured in the worldwide film sensation, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, will feature prominently throughout the festival.
About 250 artists from Hubei will join more than 2500 local and international performers in the Chinese New Year twilight parade on February 6.
"I think the parade is the highlight," Ms Moore said.
Enormous zodiac lanterns, exotic floats and flamboyant dragons will make their way through the CBD, entertaining an estimated 100,000 onlookers.
On February 12 and 13, the much-loved dragon boat races will see more than 3000 paddlers compete to the beat of a drum on Cockle Bay.
Sydney's festival is the largest Chinese New Year celebration outside Asia and will include exhibitions, tours, sport, food and cinema.
Ten percent of inner Sydney residents are of Chinese background, and Mandarin and Cantonese are the languages most spoken in Sydney households after English, Ms Moore said.
Sydney councillor Robert Kok said the celebrations marked the beginning of a new lunar calendar and the conclusion of 2010 - the Year of the Tiger.
"It is also a celebration of discarding old and bringing in new and celebrating the coming of new things," Mr Kok said at Thursday's launch.
"You have to have new clothes and new shoes and everything's new in the house. So that does a lot for shopping."
中國農曆兔年春節來臨之際，悉尼繁忙中洋溢着喜悅之情。超過60萬當地居民和海外遊客將在悉尼共迎兔年新春。
按照中國農曆生肖，兔年排在第四。這隻毛茸茸的四腳動物象徵着持久、美麗、和平和希望。
悉尼市長克勞沃•摩雅上週四說：“歡慶中國新春佳節的是悉尼最大的羣體之一，也是澳洲文化中發展最迅速的一個羣體。”
從1月28日至2月13日，悉尼將舉辦50場免費的節慶活動。
慶祝活動上週五晚間在悉尼亞洲社區的中心貝爾摩公園拉開帷幕。
公園裏將舉辦節慶市場、獨家演出、以及焰火表演。遊客還將品嚐到最美味的當地亞洲菜餚。
悉尼市還與中國湖北省合作，將中國功夫融入到今年的慶祝活動中。
來自湖北、曾在國際大片《臥虎藏龍》中演繹的武當功夫將成爲整個慶祝活動的亮點。
在2月6日清晨迎新年的歡慶遊行中，大約250名來自湖北的武術高手將閃亮登場。超過2500名當地演員和來自世界各地的表演者將參加這次遊行演出。
摩雅女士說：“我想這次遊行會成爲慶祝活動的亮點。”
巨大的生肖燈籠、異國情調的彩車、華麗的舞龍獅隊伍將穿過中心商務區。據估計將有10萬人前往觀看。
在2月12日和13日，將有超過3000名槳手在科克灣參加非常受歡迎的賽龍舟，隨着鼓點聲划起漿來。
除亞洲地區外，悉尼的春節慶祝活動是最隆重的，包括展覽、觀光、體育、美食、和影視等活動。
摩雅女士介紹稱，內悉尼有10%的居民都有華裔背景。在悉尼家庭中，普通話和廣東話是除英語外最常用的語言。
悉尼市議員羅伯特•郭表示，春節慶祝活動標誌着中國農曆新年的開始，和2010年虎年的結束。
郭先生在上週四的午餐會上說：“這也是辭舊迎新，慶祝新生活到來的節日。”
“大家都要穿新衣，穿新鞋，屋子裏的物品都要煥然一新，所以這對銷售業也是利好。”
Vocabulary:
hopping: working energetically; busily engaged（忙碌的，賣力的）
martial arts: any of the traditional forms of Oriental self-defense or combat that utilize physical skill and coordination without weapons, as karate, aikido, judo, or kung fu, often practiced as sport（武術，指功夫，柔道，空手道等）
zodiac: 十二宮圖，黃道帶
float: a vehicle bearing a display, usually an elaborate tableau, in a parade or procession（彩車）
inner Sydney: 內悉尼。悉尼按行政區劃可以分爲內悉尼和外悉尼。內悉尼是澳洲人口最稠密的地方。
