Universal Studios marks Lunar New Year with a Hangzhou twist

In an attempt to promote the long history and rich cultural heritage of the city, Hangzhou, the capital of East China's Zhejiang province threw a Lunar New Year celebration at Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles, the United States, from Feb 9 to 10.

Hosted by the Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, TV and Tourism, the event, dubbed "Hangzhou Showtime", marked the very first time for a Chinese city to be showcased at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Featuring a slew of UNESCO heritage sites including West Lake, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and Liangzhu relic site which is currently applying for the world heritage status, the event allowed visitors to dig into the 5,000 years history of Chinese civilization and get a taste of Hangzhou's long list of intangible cultural heritages, such as tea and calligraphy culture.

Also, artists from Hangzhou presented performances of Yueju Opera that originated from Zhejiang's Shaoxing city and live demonstrations of bamboo weaving techniques, a traditional Chinese craft.

Cooperating with world renowned film studios such as Universal Studios Hollywood on the special occasion of the Chinese Spring Festival is Hangzhou's attempt to blaze new trails in promoting the city image by combining culture with tourism, in the hope to attract more overseas visitors, said an official from the Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, TV and Tourism.

By Feb 13, the themed event had made a splash in overseas market with the number of followers on Hangzhou's five overseas social media platforms surpassing 810,000.