CAPE TOWN, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The bustling Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa's legislative capital, came alive with vibrant colors and lively performances on Sunday as the upcoming Chinese New Year was celebrated.
The event attracted hundreds of local residents and foreign tourists, injecting fresh momentum into people-to-people exchanges between China and Africa.
China's Spring Festival will fall on Feb. 17 this year, marking the beginning of the Year of the Horse. The horse is the seventh animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac.
Organized by the city's Chinese community, the Chinese New Year 2026 celebration in Cape Town once again presented a rich cultural feast infused with Spring Festival atmosphere, taking on added significance as 2026 has been designated as the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges.
Ahead of the main performance event, a cultural exhibition was held near the V&A Waterfront Amphitheatre, allowing visitors to taste Chinese cuisine, experience Chinese tea ceremonies, participate in arts and crafts such as Chinese calligraphy, woodblock printing, as well as making Chinese trinkets said to bring luck and success.
Zian Lombat, a postgraduate majoring in media at the University of Cape Town, was trying Chinese calligraphy at a cultural booth. "I really love Chinese culture and enjoy learning about it," she told Xinhua. "And I would like to visit China someday, especially for the teas and the calligraphy."
Taaraa Lakay, a third-year Chinese linguistics major at Stellenbosch University, told Xinhua that she also came to the Chinese New Year celebration last year, which she said was very beautiful, too.
"I think it is really exciting," Lakay said, adding that she got to try on traditional Chinese clothes and sample Chinese food. "I'm very happy to be here. It's a wonderful time."
Having started learning Chinese in primary school, Lakay said she knew that 2026 has been designated as the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges.
"Such an event for celebrating the New Year will improve the people-to-people relationship between South Africa and China, fostering things like today's connections," she said. "I think bringing the Chinese culture can serve to diversify South Africa even more, which is always a good thing."
Around 4 p.m., amidst the resounding beats of gongs and drums from the amphitheatre, the main performance event kicked off with New Year's messages from China's Consul General in Cape Town Ren Faqiang and Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
The audience was treated to mesmerizing performances, including Sichuan opera face-changing, Chinese martial arts, and a fusion of Chinese and South African dances, featuring traditional Chinese folk dances alongside the lively rhythms of Xhosa performances. The exhilarating dragon and lion dances by the Cape Town Huaxing Arts Troupe ignited a wave of cheers and applause from the crowd.
South African youths were also seen among the performers of traditional Chinese programs, including 21-year-old local college student Luqmaan Slarmie and 18-year-old local high school student Saifullah Chafeker, who took part in the Chinese martial arts performances.
Although they both love Chinese culture -- with Slarmie fascinated by the Chinese zodiac and Chafeker by Chinese calligraphy -- their greatest enthusiasm is reserved, of course, for Chinese martial arts.
"That has brought me a sense of confidence, a sense of peace as well. And I can definitely tell that my fitness has gone up in the time frame that I've been training," Slarmie told Xinhua.
"For me, Chinese martial arts have been a very big part of my life since I was a small child. I've always wanted to do it, and I've been extremely grateful to have started and been able to continue for the past 10 to 11 years," said Chafeker.
Dong Gang, leader of the Huaxing troupe and chief organizer of the event, expressed his excitement about celebrating Spring Festival at such an iconic location for the fourth time, especially because this year has been designated as the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges.
The Spring Festival emphasizes reunion, harmony, and sharing, while the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges highlights mutual learning between civilizations and closer ties between peoples. "At the spiritual level, the two are closely connected and share the same underlying ethos," said Dong.
When the Chinese and South African communities celebrate the Spring Festival and welcome the New Year together, "this form of exchange goes beyond a superficial level and truly achieves cultural integration and mutual learning," he added. ■