Chinese New Year festivities enchant travellers at OR Tambo International Airport

On the eve of the 2025 Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival marking the start of the lunisolar calendar, travellers from different walks of life arriving at the busy OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park were treated to a pleasant surprise of drums and African traditional dancing, punctuated with celebratory Chinese chanting.

The China Media Group organised the festivities at the international arrivals terminal of the airport, with South Africans and visitors walking onto the massive celebration to usher the Chinese Lunar New Year.

This year, the Chinese Lunar New Year has begun on Wednesday, January 29th. This year, 2025, is dedicated as the Year of the Snake, according to the Chinese zodiac which contains 12 animal symbols, in order: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. Each character represents a different year in the repeating 12-year sequence.

Major celebrations have begun in China and across different parts of the world, and the festivities will continue for 15 days, culminating in the highly anticipated Lantern Festival - called Yuan Xiao Jie on February 12.

Speaking to IOL at the OR Tambo International Airport, Chinese Consul General in Joburg, Pan Qingjiang said the event at the major transport hub was showcasing a fusion of Chinese and South Africa cultures and the people.

“Spring Festival is the most important Chinese traditional festival. Today (Tuesday) is the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year of the snake.

“At the busiest airport in Africa, the Chinese community celebrates the Chinese Lunar Year together with the local community, with the hope to enjoy the Chinese traditional festivities and the mutual learning among different civilisations,” he said.

“This event serves to increase the understanding and between the people of China and South Africa. On the occasion of the Chinese Lunar New Year, I wish all the South African people a happy Chinese Lunar New year,” said Pan.

Members of the Chinese community, young and old, also descended on the airport, waving South African and Chinese flags.

Speaking to IOL, chief financial officer of FAW South Africa, Liu Ningchuan said it has been 30 years since the Chinese automotive giant entered the South African market and from humble beginnings, considerable success has been achieved.  

“Our company started 30 years ago and is the first Chinese commercial vehicle which entered South Africa. Last year, we had a very big ceremony for 30-year anniversary. When we started, we were very small but from last year, we are now number one in terms of market share in commercial vehicle sales in South Africa,” Liu told IOL at the festivities.

“We are here to celebrate Spring Festival, as we do every year. This festival is not celebrated in China alone, it is celebrated all over the world. South Africa and China enjoy very close relationship. Our staff know Chinese traditions very well and we celebrate together every year.”

Asked about his company’s contribution to South Africa’s economy, Liu said from humble beginnings, FAW South Africa now employs hundreds of workers across the country.

“At present, we have more than 450 employees, if we do a headcount. It is not a small number. Thirty years ago, we started with just 10 or 20 staff, now we 450 employees. As I also said, we are already number one commercial vehicle (supplier) in South Africa,” said Liu.

“We are growing and we are going to expand our production. We have a plant in Port Elizabeth. With that expansion of production, we will also employ more people. Note that 95 percent of our employees are local staff, South Africans.”

For more than a decade, China has been South Africa’s biggest trading partner, and South Africa is China’s biggest trading partner on the African continent.

Chairperson of the African Chinese Language Education Foundation based in Joburg, Jessica Han told IOL her organization has been working to foster mutual learning of languages for Chinese learners in South Africa, and vice versa.

“There are cases of South African children who seek to go and study in China, we work to organise scholarships for them to go to China. We also help local children who are interested in learning the Chinese language. We have different programmes to assist towards education,” she said.

“In the coming year, we hope to bring more scholarships for local children who seek to go to universities in China. We hope to work with more partners to advance the education of local children, giving them an opportunity to have a better future, through education.”

On the Spring Festival, Han said she is looking forward to take a break during the major festivities.

Last week, the Chinese Consulate General in Joburg held its celebrations at Sandton, where delegates from Gauteng and Free State – provinces served by the diplomatic mission – attended and participated.

jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za

IOL