悉尼进入“春节时间” Sydney gears up for Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations

Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, announces the countdown to the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Sydney, Australia on February 12, 2018. [Photo: China Plus]

Australia's largest city, Sydney, is gearing up for the annual Chinese New Year's Festival – it's the largest(最大的) celebration(庆典) of the Lunar New Year outside of Asia.

The City of Sydney's festivities will kick off on February 16th, Lunar New Year's Day, with an opening night fireworks(烟花) display at Sydney Harbor with the iconic Harbor Bridge glowing(闪耀) an auspicious red(吉祥的红色) for 10 consecutive(连续的) nights.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore (second right) and Festival Curator Claudia Chan Shaw (first left) attend the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Sydney, Australia on February 12, 2018. [Photo: China Plus]

More than 80 events(活动) will be staged during the festival, which runs(持续) until March 4th.

This marks Sydney's 22nd Chinese New Year Festival. It will include(包括) everything from art exhibitions and food events to live performances and dragon boat races.

One of the highlights(亮点) is the traditional Lunar lanterns exhibition, which will feature, among other things, an animated dog lantern(灯笼) in front of the Sydney Opera House, as well as two giant dog lanterns that guard(守卫) the entrance(入口) to Chinatown.

Lion dancers perform at the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Sydney, Australia on February 12, 2018. [Photo: China Plus]

Lanterns representing(代表) the 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac will light the Sydney Harbor foreshore from February 16th to the 25th.

This year's festivities will also include the largest dragon boat race(龙舟赛) in the Southern Hemisphere, with up to 3-thousand paddlers taking part in a two-day regatta, which will include more than 100 races on February 24th and 25th.

Local children dressed as puppies perform at the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Sydney, Australia on February 12, 2018. [Photo: China Plus]

In addition, more than 200 performers(表演者) and international delegates will be featured in the festival, taking part in traditional, contemporary and folk dances, choral performances, martial arts and lion dances.

词汇 Words:

[zuì dà de] 最大的 the largest
[lián xù de] 连续的 consecutive
[qìng diǎn] 庆典 celebration
[huó dòng] 活动 event
[liàng diǎn] 亮点 highlight
[dēng lóng] 灯笼 lantern
[shǎn yào] 闪耀 glow
[bāo kuò] 包括 include
[chí xù] 持续 run
[shǒu wèi] 守卫 guard
[dài biǎo] 代表 represent

重点词汇 Key word:

将

• <副词 adv.> going to; will
  E.g. Wǒ jiāng jìnlì érwéi。
  我将尽力而为。
  I will try my best to do it well.

• <介词 prep.> with; by means of; by
  E.g. Rúguǒ nǐ jiāngcuò jiùcuò,hòuguǒ jiù gèng yánzhòng le。
  如果你将错就错,后果就更严重了。
  If you leave the error alone, things will become more serious.