Chinese “Year of the Pig” Celebrated in Athens

Photo source: AMNA

Hundreds of Greek citizens joined members of the vibrant Chinese community in Athens on Tuesday to welcome the nascent Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, which begins on Feb. 5 this year.

A giant costumed character of a pig greeted the audience at the entrance of the show “Happy Chinese New Year 2019-Night of Beijing”. The year 2019 is the “Year of the Pig” according to the Chinese zodiac.

The hall of the Technopolis Cultural Center, a major cultural venue in Athens, was fully packed with visitors who took in the spectacular show featuring dancers and acrobats.

Photo source: AMNA

The performance given by artists from several prestigious troupes in China, such as Beijing’s Dance Academy and China’s National Acrobatic Troupe, enthralled the audience.

Chinese Ambassador to Greece Zhang Qiyue addressed the attendees of the event.

“Although China and Greece are far away geographically, they respect and understand each other, and are linked with strong friendship,” said the Chinese ambassador.

She added that the cooperation between the two countries has proved fruitful, and the cultural exchanges between the two countries have increased a great deal over the years.

The Chinese ambassador received a big round of applause when she said “Kali Chronia”, or “Happy New Year” in Greek to the audience, Xinhua news agency reports.

source: Greek reporter

Greece Seeks UNESCO Heritage Status for Spinalonga Islet (video)

Greece’s Culture ministry submitted a nomination to UNESCO on Tuesday asking them to declare Crete’s Spinalonga islet, with its impressive sixteenth-century Venetian fortress, a new “World Heritage Site”.

The Central Archaeological Council of Greece had earlier given its approval to the ministry’s management plan for the islet. Spinalonga had also served as a leper colony in the 20th century, up until the year 1957.

“The possible inclusion of the islet will make it the first site in Crete to be included on the UNESCO World Heritage List,” noted Maria Andreadaki-Vlazaki, the secretary general of the Culture Ministry.

Spinalonga Fortress is the second-most visited archaeological site in Crete after the palace of Knossos, and is the sixth most popular site in the nation of Greece.

Located in the Gulf of Elounda on northeastern Crete, Spinalonga is known for its small pebble beaches and shallow aquamarine waters, as well as its Fortress and abandoned leper colony. The island can easily be accessed from Plaka, Elounda and Agios Nikolaos.

The last Greek monument to be included on the UNESCO list was the archaeological site of Philippi in northern Greece, which was added in July of 2017.

source: greek reporter