From January 6 to 8, a series of activities under the theme of 2023 "Happy 
Chinese New Year Celebrations" were held successively in Philadelphia and New 
York, presenting Chinese and foreign friends with various Suzhou's culture. 
This is China's first large-scale cultural exchange activity to the US since 
optimizing and adjusting the epidemic prevention and control policy, according 
to the Publicity Department of Suzhou Municipal People's Government.

Two concerts entitled "Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems" were held at Kimmel Center 
for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia, and Lincoln Center, New York, 
respectively, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Philadelphia 
Orchestra's China Tour in 1973. Hosted by Philadelphia Orchestra, Suzhou 
Culture and Art Center, and Asian American Performing Arts Center, the iSING! 
Suzhou and Chinese New Year Celebrations Concert by Philadelphia Orchestra 
gathered 15 iSING! Suzhou's singers from 10 countries, brought the Tang Dynasty 
to life with some ancient poems reinterpreted into music in Chinese.

As the world-renowned orchestra that initiated the "ice-breaking journey" 
between China and the US, Philadelphia Orchestra has an extraordinary 
friendship with China. In 1973, the orchestra made its historic first China 
tour, becoming one of the first well-known U.S. orchestras that visit China. 
Since then, it has visited China frequently up to 12 times and serves as a 
bridge for bilateral cultural exchanges.

Historically, Suzhou was synonymous with the land of fish and rice, the Home of 
Silk, and the City of Gardens. Suzhou is among China's most rapidly developing 
with the most dynamic economy and the highest degree of openness. It is also 
one of China's largest manufacturing cities.

In the series of activities, Suzhou brought excellent traditional Chinese 
culture such as Kunqu Opera, Suzhou Pingtan, and Suzhou embroidery. These 
performances of intangible cultural heritages showed the beauty of Suzhou's 
gentle and elegant "Jiangnan Culture" to overseas friends, and sent a warm 
invitation from Suzhou and China to the whole world.

The event also set up folk art performances such as lion dance and dumpling 
making, creating an opportunity for the audience to learn about Chinese 
traditional folk culture through interaction and spend the happy Chinese New 
Year together.

Source: Publicity Department of Suzhou Municipal People's Government

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   Caption: Performance of Suzhou intangible cultural heritage