Ballet dancers perform during the opening ceremony of the River Hongbao held at Singapore's Float at Marina Bay, Jan 26, 2017. River Hongbao will last from Jan 26 to Feb 4 to celebrate the Chinese New Year. [Photo/Xinhua]

OCCASION FOR GALAS

China's Spring Festival provides another chance for global revelers to celebrate.

China's Zhejiang Traditional Chinese Orchestra and Shaanxi Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra performed in a concert featuring traditional Chinese music at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg on Wednesday.

The concert, which is part of the month-long cultural events in honor of the Chinese Spring Festival in St. Petersburg, proved to be a big success.

However, foreigners were no longer satisfied with being part of the audience of the festive galas, so they took to the stage instead.

What's more, over 1,000 Ghanaian students from the capital's junior high schools on Wednesday performed Chinese songs and dances to celebrate the Spring Festival.

The event, hosted by the Confucius Institute at the University of Ghana Basic Schools, Legon, was attended by officials from the Chinese embassy and Chinese company representatives.

During the event, students from the Confucius Institute also displayed their proficiency in spoken Chinese and knowledge of Chinese music, dance and traditional costumes.

Daria Larionova, a 21-year-old Ukrainian student, acted as a co-host of a feast entitled "The fate gathered us in Ukraine," held recently at the Boryspil International Airport in Kiev to greet the Spring Festival.

Dressed in a qipao, a body-hugging traditional Chinese dress, Larionova added to the Lunar New Year's atmosphere in the airport, which is decorated with red lanterns, Zodiac-themed paper-cuts and works of Chinese calligraphy.

"In my opinion, the most entertaining Lunar New Year custom is joint cooking and eating of dumplings. It creates a very friendly atmosphere! It is really great," Larionova said.

The Chinese Lunar New Year is the most important festival in China, and falls on Jan. 28 this year.