As New Year nears, taste buds celebrate
KUWAIT CITY – “I love Chinese food and I’d love to go back to China again,” Kuwait Television director Ahmad Alhomoud said at a Chinese New Year’s celebration in Kuwait on Jan 13. Alhomoud said he had attended the annual celebration for more than 20 years. It helps Kuwaitis better understand Chinese culture, he said.
The celebration, hosted by the Chinese embassy in Kuwait in collaboration with the Association of Chinese Companies in the country, brings together representatives of Chinese companies in Kuwait, Chinese students and Chinese citizens living in Kuwait.
Dozens of employees of Chinese companies and Chinese students performed Chinese songs, traditional dances and martial arts to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
“I am so happy to be here tonight,” Alhomoud said. “It’s amazing to watch Chinese martial arts.”
Alhomoud said he was in China for two weeks last year on a business trip.
“I went to Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai and tasted different Chinese food. What I liked most was fried prawns.
“Chinese food is very popular in Kuwait. As a part of traditional culture Chinese cooking helps us know your country.”
Fayez Shalaan, media adviser of the Kuwaiti International Parliament of States For Safety and Peace, said he has been to China four times.
“I went to Beijing and Shanghai as a tourist. Chinese calligraphy, acrobatics and lion dances left a deep impression on me. I really like Chinese culture, especially traditional Chinese snacks.”
Pointing at spring rolls served at the celebration, he said: “In Kuwait spring rolls are well known, and you can find them in supermarkets and restaurants. I know spring rolls have a long history, and that Chinese eat them during Spring Festival.”
The Belt and Road Initiative, first put forward by President Xi Jinping in 2013, gives full play to the role of cultural exchange in an effort to promote collaboration among countries along the route of the Belt and Road Initiative.
In a speech at the celebration, China’s Ambassador to Kuwait, Wang Di, said China and Kuwait have signed a cooperation agreement in the field of culture, and Chinese performing arts organizations that visited Kuwait last year gave Kuwaitis the chance to experience China’s traditions and culture.
“I hope that within the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, Kuwait and China can seize the opportunity to promote collaboration and strengthen our cultural communication,” Alhomoud said.
Wang said: “In 2018 we will further integrate the initiative with Kuwait’s development strategy, deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields and maintain close cultural exchanges. I hope that the celebration here will promote mutual understanding and friendship between people in China and Kuwait.”