At 16:00 on February 9 of local time, 2018 St. Petersburg "The Happy Spring Festival & Sichuan Customs" co-held by Sichuan Provincial People's Government, the municipal government of St. Petersburg and the Chinese Consulate General in St. Petersburg began in the popular Rainbow Shopping Center of St. Petersburg and attracted more than 300 people from all walks of life as well asover 70 media reporters from China and Russia on the spot.

　　Our reporter has learned from Sichuan Provincial Department of Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs that it was the first event of "China-Russia Year of Local Cooperation and Exchange" held in Russia in 2018, opening the prelude.

　　The event of "the Happy Spring Festival & Sichuan Customs" are carried out in the form of traditional temple fairs, containing excellent exhibitions and live performancesof Sichuan intangible cultural heritage, the delicacies of Sichuan cuisine and the authentic dance of Tibetan and Zang ethnic groups in Wenchuan County. There were also Mianzhu New Year pictures, Wusheng paper cutting, Wenchuan Tibetan and Zang ethnic groups’ singing and dance performances.These performances, both dynamic and quiescent with diverse forms, have displayed the rich customs of Sichuan New Year.

　　Govolunov, the First Deputy Mayor of St. Petersburg, Gregorievye, Director of the Municipal Commission of Foreign Relations, and Guo Min, Chinese Consul General in St. Petersburg, attended the opening ceremony and delivered their speeches. They said that "China-Russia Year of Local Cooperation and Exchange" has just begun, and Sichuan Province has seized the first chance and elaborated this rich and varied cultural activity which offered the purest "Chinese" and "Sichuan" flavors to the Russian people, providing a leading role in the cooperation and exchange with local governments.