Celebrating Pak-China friendship: Musical evening heralds the arrival of spring

Chinese envoy, local politicians reaffirm cooperation.

ISLAMABAD:

There is a popular Chinese saying which, when translated to English, literally means “success immediately upon arrival.” It is commonly used by the Chinese in connection with the Year of the Horse, the Chinese New Year which began on January 31.

“I would also like to use this saying to wish every success to Pak-China friendship, and all of our distinguished guests a very successful and prosperous Year of the Horse,” said Chinese envoy Sun Weidong, as he welcomed guests to a cultural celebration at the embassy on Friday evening.

The embassy had invited top artists from Kashgar, in China’s Xinjiang province that neighbours Pakistan, to perform folk songs and traditional dances for the celebration. The Chinese Lunar New Year is celebrated as a spring festival and it is the most important annual celebration in China, marked by folk events, family get-togethers and prayers for peace and happiness.



“When the spring festival comes, the Chinese people will travel hundreds of miles for family reunions, extending New Year greetings to their relatives and friends and expressing hope for a better lifw,” the ambassador said. “On this occasion, kinship and friendship are highlighted.”

The celebration was attended by several government officials and politicians including Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Minister for Development Ahsan Iqbal and Minister for Information Technology Anusha Rahman, who was representing Shahbaz Sharif at the event.

Aziz, who was the chief guest, said Pak-China friendship and cooperation have moved forward at an “unprecedented” pace during the present phase. The vision of collaboration and connectivity shown by the leadership of the two countries is likely to “usher in a new era (of development and progress) for the region.”

Earlier, the Chinese ambassador said 2013 was a “year of development and harvest for China-Pakistan relations.” Pakistan is now China’s biggest foreign direct investment destination  in South Asia, Weidong said. “The planning and construction of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has achieved remarkable progress in the fields of energy development and transportation infrastructure.” The two countries expect the second round of the Joint Cooperation Committee’s meeting to be held in Beijing soon, he added.



The “Silk Road Economic Belt” idea proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping can connect Central Asia, South Asia and the Middle East countries, located along the ancient Silk Route, to strengthen regional cooperation, Weidong said. He said the economic belt idea and the CPEC are “naturally interlinked and mutually reinforced.”

Aziz said China could prove to be the “uniting force” in the region especially in areas of energy and trade.

The evening revolved around performances of the troupe from Kashgar, which is also the starting point of the under-development China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Female and male entertainers, some of them wearing bright and spring-coloured traditional dresses, performed a variety of folk dances that expressed the spirit of the Chinese culture and the happiness associated with the spring season.

Where the graceful “Side of the Kashgar River” female group dance was reminiscent of rustic scenes from Pakistani villages where women go to fetch water using clay pots, the energetic “Hot Daolang” dance got the guests tapping their feet to the rhythm of the dance.

Musicians used traditional Kashgar and Uighur instruments such as the tambourine and rubab to give group and solo performances of lively folk tunes from the Xinjiang region.

Singers Neuramina and Ameen Ahmed (Maimai Timing) separately sang Pakistani national songs in Urdu, as guests in the audience clapped and crooned along with them.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2014.