Madrid is getting ready for the celebration of the Chinese New Year. And the first of these pre-celebratory actions was the presentation of the poster that will welcome the Year of the Rabbit, although the big celebrations will take place in Usera on January 21 and 22, will be extended until the 25th of this month.
The poster is the work of illustrator Juan Carlos Paz (also known as Bakea). The image shows the city of Madrid and a rabbit waving. The illustrator himself has referred to the animal that pays tribute to the year that gives entry: “people who have the rabbit as a horoscope are prudent, intelligent, affable, discreet, farsighted, attentive, benevolent, witty and quick-witted”.
Madrid, for yet another year, joins in the celebrations that have as their epicenter the district of Usera (an area that – with some controversy – the City Council wants to recognize as the Spanish Chinatown).
The Great Multicultural Parade of Usera
The parade will be held on January 22 at 12 noon and will feature people dressed in costumes brought from China, dragons and giant lions, iconographic elements of this country, lanterns made by children, and live music. As in previous years , it will go through the Usera neighborhood from Marcelo Usera Street, on the corner of Manuel Muñoz Street, to Rafaela Ybarra Avenue, at its confluence with Dolores Barranco Street.
Chinese New Year activities
The celebration festival serves to bid farewell to winter and is 4,000 years old. The program has, so to speak, three axes: that of the Chinese Embassy of Spain, that of the Chinese Culture Center in Madrid and that of the Madrid City Council. Among the celebrations of the Chinese New Year 2023 are:
- The inauguration: on Friday, January 20 on the Stage of the Year of the Rabbit in the square of the Municipal Board of the District of Usera will be authorities of Madrid and the ambassador of China. Afterwards, the eyes of the lions that will parade will be painted on the stage – a Chinese tradition to awaken and attract luck.
- The Spring Market: on January 20, 21 and 22 there will be stalls with handicrafts and Chinese products in the parking lot behind the Junta Municipal de Usera.
- Taichi: in the Olof Palme Park on January 21 from 10:30 am to 11:30 am a group composed of people of Chinese and Spanish origin will demonstrate taichi.
- Outdoor Escape Room: will go through the different attractions of the Chinese New Year on the 21st. The clues will be the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac and part of the square of the Junta Distrito de Usera.
- Chinese Gastronomy Festival: composed of restaurants offering special menus between January 11 and February 12.
- Outreach around the Panda Bear: educational activities such as workshops or exhibitions between January 11 and February 5.
- ELLAS: exhibition of contemporary Chinese and Spanish artists. Dialogue between artists from one side and the other hosted by the China Cultural Center in Madrid.
- Spring Run: January 29 (5, 8 or 16 kilometers).
- Book club for the novel A Zoo at the End of the World by Ma Boyong.