On February 10, 2019, Ambassador Wu Xi was invited to attend Wellington's Chinese New Year Festival 2019 to celebrate the Year of the Pig. Ambassador Wu extended her blessings for the Chinese New Year to overseas Chinese and Wellingtonians, and joined them in enjoying the temple fair and art performances.
Ambassador Wu met with the representatives from the participating organisations and expressed her special appreciation for the hard work of the Wellington City Council, the Asia New Zealand Foundation, and the Wellington China Culture Center in New Zealand. She encouraged the staff from these organisations to continue promoting cultural exchanges and friendship between the two countries.
This is the 19th Wellington's Chinese New Year Festival and it is one of the largest and most popular festivals in the city. The Chinese New Year Festival 2019: Year of the Pig was co-sponsored by the Wellington City Council and the Wellington China Culture Center in New Zealand, and was organised by the Asia New Zealand Foundation. The celebrations included an East Meets West show, a street parade, a Spring Festival temple fair, a food court, a Chinese intangible cultural heritage art show, and a fireworks display. The Chinese Embassy in New Zealand organised a charity sale during the temple fair, and there was a performance from the Jinan Acrobatic Troupe from China. This diverse, high quality programme, rich in traditional Chinese festival elements, attracted tens of thousands of enthusiastic Wellingtonians. The entire city was bursting at the seams with Chinese culture and celebrations.
