NSW: Chinese visitors bullish on their visit for Year of the Ox

AAP General News (Australia)
02-01-2009
NSW: Chinese visitors bullish on their visit for Year of the Ox

BY Nick Ralston

SYDNEY, Feb 1 AAP - Hundreds of performers visiting Australia for the biggest Chinese
New Year Festival outside of Asia aren't just here to entertain the masses.

The 500-strong troupe from the Henan province in central China is made up of explosive
drummers from the city of Kaifeng, graceful Thai Chi practitioners and freakish Kung Fu
experts in the form of Shaolin monks.

They will join 2,100 other local performers as part of Sydney's annual Chinese New
Year Street parade, which in 2009 will be held at night for the first time on Sunday.

The cars that usually clog CBD streets will be replaced by illuminated floats making
their way along a path lit by giant lanterns.

It is also likely it will attract a larger crowd than it has the previous 12 years,
with 70,000 people anticipated to attend to mark the Year of the Ox.

The animal is said to bring a combination of good-natured patience and physical stamina
to the year.

For the City of Sydney, the street parade is the flagship event of their expanding
Chinese New Year festivities, which attract 600,000 people to its events including a Chinese
Film Festival.

Sydney's festival has for at least the last three years been the largest Chinese New
Year celebration outside of Asia.

For the people of Henan, it is not just a time for celebration - they are also here for business.

The Henan Provincial Government view their visit to Sydney as a way to promote their
area as a tourist destination and a place to do business.

Its central location has earned Henan the tag of the heart of China. It is also seen
by the Chinese as being the cradle of civilisation.

As its officials are all too willing to boast, it is also the country's most populous
province, with almost 100 million residents.

That means Henan has more people than all but a dozen or so countries in the world,
and is five times the population of Australia.

Traditionally a rural province, high rises are now sprouting up in its capital Zhengzhou,
with construction underway on a new CBD.

However, it remains a little-known part of China.

Henan's director of external cultural relations Kang Jie said their participation in
the Sydney parade was as much about enticing Australians to the province as it was about
entertaining.

"We can go to Sydney and bring our culture to show your city," she told a delegation
of Australian media sent to Henan in the lead-up to the parade.

"We hope people will now come and visit Henan."

The Ox, which will lead off the parade, and many other floats were built in Henan and
shipped to Australia to represent sites and aspects of the province.

One of those will be the Shaolin Temple - where various forms of kung fu are taught
and practiced by Shaolin monks.

The Shaolin name is known around the world thanks to movies and television shows, but
the location of the temple itself is not as widely known.

Ms Jie admits tourism is not a big industry, but it's one they are eager to expand.

The addition of a 152 metre high golden Buddha, believed to be the world's tallest,
just a stone's throw from the world's largest bell in Henan's Lushan County is all part
of the push for the tourist trade.

But it is not just the tourist dollars the visiting Henan delegation will be hoping for.

Along with the performers for the parade, 100 government officials and business people
will hold a dialogue in Sydney on Monday.

It is already shaping as a prosperous visit, with more than 20 contracts expected to
be signed between Henan and Australian businesses.

They range from real estate to the construction of research centres in Zhengzhou to
manufacturing to an agreement to help develop the automobile market in Australia.

There may be a global financial crisis, but the people of Henan are bullish on their
prospects of prosperity from their visit to Australia for the Year of the Ox.

AAP nr/hn/ss/nf

KEYWORD: YEAR SYDNEY (AAP NEWSFEATURE)(WITH PIX) RPTNG

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