As people in China are busy preparing for the upcoming Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb 8, Alireza Salarian, consul general for Iran in Guangzhou, is arranging to celebrate his fourth Iranian New Year in the South China city on March 20.

Chinese Lunar New Year is also known as Spring Festival, as the season signifies a new start from the depths of winter, and the corresponding holiday carries the same meaning in Iranian culture. Nowrooz, as the Iranian New Year is called in Persian, means "new day" and falls on the first day of the spring equinox every year.

There are remarkable similarities in the ways Chinese and Iranians celebrate their spring festivals, according to Salarian. It is a time for family reunions in both countries, and people who live away from their hometowns customarily return for a family dinner on the eve of the festival.