Coinciding with Spring Festival, Beijing 2022 celebrates togetherness

Many Chinese New Year customs have been widely observed for thousands of years. The family reunion dinner, pasting couplets and setting off fireworks are must-dos during Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival.

But for this upcoming Spring Festival, watching the Beijing Winter Olympics will also become an important activity in addition to the more traditional ones.

The 2022 Spring Festival - the year of the Tiger in the Chinese lunar calendar - falls on February 1, just three days before the Olympic Winter Games officially opens in Beijing.

Lou Xiaoqi, a cultural scholar and founder of Civilization Magazine, said that the Olympic Games and Spring Festival share cultural connotations in common, as they both celebrate togetherness and harmony.

Overseas guests at the 2022 Winter Olympics echoed the importance of unity.

"The Lunar New Year is a celebration of family reunions. The Olympic Games is about the international family coming together. So it just kind of shows that we have a lot more in common internationally than we think that we do," said Oliver Walters, a cameraman for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

"It's great for other cultures to come here and experience it and see how much we do have in common and as opposed to what we don't think we have in common," he added.

Time-honored values

Equal to Christmas in Western countries in terms of significance, the Spring Festival is the most crucial time of the year for family reunions in China. The precise origins of the Spring Festival are lost in the mists of time, but according to folklore, it has been celebrated for around 4,000 years.

Chen Haiming, director of the Center for Global Governance and Law, Xiamen University of Technology, said that the Spring Festival embodies the principle of "oneness of heaven and humanity," representing the highest value of traditional Chinese culture and soul of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

"The concept of unity between humans and nature has profoundly influenced all aspects of Chinese social life, and even shaped the idea of 'green development,' which China lays particular emphasis on today," he added.

More importantly, the Spring Festival represents the value of family reunions and the pursuit of harmonious family relationships.

The yearlong yearning for a family reunion during the Spring Festival is manifested in the travel rush. During the Spring Festival season -- a 40-day period known as 'Chunyun' -- hundreds of millions of Chinese people will be on the move, cramming into trains, buses, cars and planes to reach family and friends.

Decades ago, the Spring Festival had little impact outside of China. But as the country's economy grew, the holiday, which has enormous cultural significance in the Chinese-speaking world, has become more prominent.

Similarly, the Olympic Games, full of passion and extraordinary feats of athletic endeavor, were the sporting, social and cultural highlight of the ancient Greek calendar for almost 12 centuries.

One of the most important traditions from the ancient Olympics was the Olympic Truce, a peace accord that allowed warring Greek city-states to set conflict aside, celebrate togetherness, and experience peace inspired by sport.

The modern Olympic Games was revived in the 19th century by Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin, who had read about the ancient Greek Olympics and believed the Olympic Games could contribute to world peace and international friendship.

As de Coubertin envisaged, the Olympic Games have evolved into humanity's largest and most diverse gathering. Every two years, the world watches in awe as athletes from up to over 200 countries and regions unite in competition at the Olympic Games.

Though the Olympic Truce does not stop wars, it has a vital contribution to enhance understanding, lower tension, and resolve conflict, all for the benefit of humanity.

"The modern Olympic Games serves as a kind of practice for building a community with a shared future for mankind," said Lou.