2018 Beijing New Year’s Eve Countdown Celebration Concluded

2020-06-28

The 2018 Beijing New Year's Eve Countdown Celebration and the Second Ice and Snow Cultural Tourism Festival Opening Ceremony, held by Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development in Yongdingmen Park, concluded successfully. The ceremony themed New Era and New Journey displaying the new style and features of Beijing People. Distinguished guests including Du Jiang, Vice Chairman of China National Tourism Administration, Wang Ning, Vice Mayor of Beijing Municipality, ambassadors from 13 countries attended the ceremony. More than 1,000 people celebrated the exciting moment together. Yongdingmen Gate Tower, the venue of the ceremony, stands at the start point of Beijing's central axis. Hailed as the soul of old Beijing city, the central axis is the longest as well as the most complete one in the world that is the symbol of the grand city.

As a highlight of the ceremony, the Beijing Tourism Promotional Event and New Year’s Party were held at the October Salon in Yongdingmen Park. The October is an outstanding magazine containing profound Chinese culture. The exquisite prints themed traditional Chinese culture exhibited on the event were welcomed by guests from home and abroad.

Beijing Ice and Snow Cultural Tourism Festival was released on the ceremony at 23:39. Themed Charming Beijing and Exciting Winter Sports, the festival is an important event on promoting Beijing winter tourism resources, enriching tourists’ travel and supporting 2022 Winter Olympic Games. The Ice and Snow Winter Tourism Festival is jointly held by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Commerce, the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of People’s Government of Beijing Municipality, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports, the Beijing Municipal Administration of Culture Heritage, the News Department of Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and the Beijing Municipal Administration Center of Parks. The two-month long Beijing Ice and Snow Winter Tourism Festival will run through festivals including New Year’s Day, Spring Festival and Lantern Festival. The festival, closely related to the theme “Charming Beijing and Exciting Winter Sports”, will present series activities like New Year’s Carnival, Temple Fair Festival, shopping and catering, winter sport events and snow shows etc. Over 10 great temple fairs, 100 winter sports games and events, 100 exhibitions and other cultural activities held by museums, parks and libraries, more than 1000 excellent wonderful performances will bring visitors a winter feast. At the same time, abundant tourism products are also prepared for visitors like group tour, Free and Independent Travel (FIT) and special snow routes.

The ceremony embraced its first high tide at 23:42 with a grand performance. Divided into three chapters “Echo of Time”, “Symphony of New Era” and “Summoning of Future”, the performance displayed charming Beijing utilizing central as clue. Distinguished guests including Mr. Jan Vapaavuori, the Mayor of Helsinki, Mr. Alexandre Kalil, the Mayor of Belo Horizonte, Mr. V.K.A Anura the Municipal Commissioner of Colombo, Mr. Juan Espadas, the Mayor of Seville and Mr. Luis Castañeda, the Mayor of Lima gave their best wishes to Beijing via video and expressed their common aspiration on promoting tourism development. At 23:59, guests from home and abroad counted down to embrace 2018. The ceremony came to an end as the New Year’s bell rang over the sky of this old city.

北京旅游网翻译