Fifth World of Love Carnival Opens in Vancouver as Chinese Canadians Celebrate Multiculturalism
The fifth World of Love Multicultural Carnival and its Sound of Harmony cultural gala opened in Vancouver, British Columbia, on October 3, running through October 4. Hosted by the North America Chinese Culture Promotion Society (NACCPS), the two-day event brought together Chinese Canadian families and residents of many backgrounds. A delegation led by China's Federation of Jiangsu Returned Overseas Chinese travelled to Vancouver to take part.
The carnival featured two intangible cultural heritage exhibitions, one of them at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver. National-level heritage inheritors from China demonstrated Shen Embroidery from Suzhou, Huishan Clay Figurines and Wheat Straw Painting from Wuxi, and Qinhuai Lanterns from Nanjing, while Chinese Canadian families and young people stopped to watch, try the crafts and talk with the artisans. The Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism ran a booth on the province's attractions, and the exhibitions also included traditional Chinese medicine and booths from Romania, Iran, Argentina and Indonesia.
The Sound of Harmony concert, the carnival's centrepiece, combined Suzhou Pingtan storytelling, a Kunqu Opera excerpt from The Peony Pavilion and Chinese orchestral music with Peruvian folk dance, K-pop dance, Romanian folk songs and dances, Scottish bagpipes and Highland dancing, the traditional Indonesian Malawa dance, and Vancouver groups performing classical ballet, ethnic dance and choral music. At a Huaiyang cuisine banquet in Burnaby, Yu Xuerong, President of the Jiangsu Catering Industry Association, demonstrated Yangzhou fried rice while Canadian chef Qiang Ge showcased his Wagyu char siu technique. The Jiangsu association, the Canadian Chinese Catering Association and the NACCPS signed a tripartite strategic cooperation agreement to build a long-term platform for culinary exchange between Jiangsu and North America.
The NACCPS said the carnival has grown over five years into an influential cross-cultural exchange event in North America. This year's event received a congratulatory letter from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney praising it for fostering inclusion and mutual understanding among communities. Members of Parliament Jake Sawatzky, Zoe Royer and Ron McKinnon attended and spoke, and Fu Fengshan, Consul General of China in Vancouver, was among those sending congratulations.
Source: North America Chinese Culture Promotion Society
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：温哥华中山公园古典园林庭院。本届嘉年华的一场非遗展即在此举行。图片来源：Daderot 摄，Wikimedia Commons，CC0。EN: The courtyard of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver, one of the venues for the carnival's heritage exhibitions. Image: photo by Daderot, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
