Thessaloniki to Celebrate New Chinese "Year of the Rat" at Royal Theater

The northern Greek city of Thessaloniki will celebrate the new Chinese “Year of the Rat” on January 6th with a performance by one of China’s major dance companies – the Chongqing Liangjiang Art Troupe – at the city’s Royal Theater.
The evening will feature amazingly-talented Chinese acrobats and jugglers as well as a ballet and works from the Beijing Opera which will transport the audience to the splendor of the Orient by immersing them into a new world of color, motion and music.
This show, called “Happy Chinese New Year,” will mark the fourth time that the noted dance company has visited Greece’s second-largest city.
The show representing Beijing constitutes an example of the depth of the cultural interaction between Greece and China in the context of Greek-Chinese cultural exchange in recent years.
As part of their New Year traditions, Chinese people wear new clothes on that day to symbolize a new start and fresh hopes for the coming year. Their lucky color is red, which represents optimism and a festive attitude, according to ancient tradition.
Chinese New Year celebrations always include the famous dragon and lion dances, which are thought to be a form of prayer for good luck in order to dispel any evil spirits which may be lurking around.
The Thessaloniki event will be held under the auspices of the Municipality of Beijing and the Chinese Embassy in Athens, with the Thessaloniki Tourism Organization as the official host for the celebration.
The show will commence at 8 o’clock in the evening local time and admission is free of charge on presentation of a voucher, which can be obtained either from the Royal Theater’s box office or its website.
With information from AMNA