2007 Thailand Chinatown Festival

Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is celebrated on the first day of the First Moon of the Chinese lunar calendar and this year it falls on February 18. It is regarded as the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar.

2007 Thailand Chinatown Festival

Chinese New Year, which signifies the turning over of a new leaf, is a time for family reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration is traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors. The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital ritual of all, unites the living family members with those who have passed away. All members of the family return home and join the important family meal, a most significant feast, on New Year's Eve. This is a time for the Chinese to congratulate each other on having passed through another year, a time to finish out the old, and to welcome in the New Year.

2007 Thailand Chinatown Festival

In Thailand, this festival is celebrated nationwide, not only among Chinese immigrants and their families, but by Thais, too. Major venues are in Bangkok, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nakhon Sawan, Pattaya, Hat Yai, Phuket and Chiang Mai.

2007 Thailand Chinatown Festival

On this joyous occasion of HM King Bhumibol’s 80th Birthday Anniversary in the year 2007, China will offer a pair of stone carved lions (2.5 metres high and weighting a total of 5 tons) as a gift to the government of Thailand and bring the famous troupes of Chinese Art and Culture from 8 cities and provinces; Beijing, Shandong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Shanghai, Heilongjiang, and Inner Mongolia to join the celebration held at the Chinatown of Bangkok, Hat Yai, Phuket, and Nakhon Sawan