On the morning of March 3, more than 300 young people from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities gathered at Kuanzhai Alley in Chengdu to launch the fourth 'Salute to Youth · Chasing Dreams in Tianfu' Cultural Carnival for Youth from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and Overseas Chinese Communities. The event, featuring intangible cultural heritage performances, themed market stalls, tangyuan tasting, lion dances, and shadow puppetry, celebrates the Lantern Festival together with local residents and tourists, and will run until March 5.

The event venue

At the opening ceremony, Wang Qinjia, a youth representative from the overseas Chinese community, delivered a speech on how to 'use overseas Chinese connections as bridges' and 'forge the soul through culture.' sharing experiences of promoting China's stories abroad—using Sichuan as a model—through grassroots exchanges with countries such as the United Kingdom and Hungary. Chen Lijie from Hong Kong, Kong Yuezhao from Macao, Li Weiguo from Taiwan, and Xue Liqing from the overseas Chinese community shared their personal stories of pursuing dreams in the Bashu region, calling on more young people from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities to integrate into Sichuan and jointly build youthful aspirations.

The event venue

A highlight of the event was the 'Blessings Abound in the Year of the Horse'-themed banquet featuring signature dishes from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities, which immediately drew widespread attention upon its debut. Adorned by a Taiwanese floral artist, a pristine white celestial horse appeared to leap skyward, its tail woven from colorful fresh flowers, symbolizing the vigorous spirit of the dragon-horse. Ten popular dishes were personally prepared by youth from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities, who presented them on stage along with heartfelt wishes for national unity and harmony. Three robots dressed in Tang-style attire danced energetically to the tune of 'Gong Xi Fa Cai', earning rounds of applause.

The event venue

The market featured 55 distinctive stalls, offering everything from night market delicacies of Taiwan to the coastal charm of Victoria Harbour, allowing visitors to savor global flavors all along one street. Additionally, over ten intangible cultural heritage experiences—including tangyuan tasting, lantern painting, and Mianzhu New Year print making—were set up on-site to enhance public interaction and participation.

The event venue

Li Weiguo, a Taiwanese youth and event organizer, explained that this year's carnival specially arranged on-site promotions for agricultural and specialty products from 12 cities (prefectures) in Sichuan, inviting participants from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities to explore business matchmaking opportunities, thereby serving as a 'bridge of hearts' to support rural revitalization. He also expressed hope that, by blending traditional ceremonial elements with contemporary trends, the event would foster deeper integration among young people from Sichuan, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities, enabling them to jointly inherit Chinese culture and strengthen cultural confidence.

【本文部分内容由AI辅助生成，特此声明。The author(s) generated part of the content in this work with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), which is hereby declared.】