Seychelles-China Day ‘a vibrant event’ |17 February 2015

As the curtains of the second Seychelles-China Day were being pulled down at the International Conference Centre on Sunday evening, the organisers who alongside an enthusiastic crowd of Chinese and Seychellois alike were clapping and cheering the Chengdu Arts Troupe who had just given a glittering performance, described it as a vibrant event.

“The Seychelles-China Day was a vibrant event,” commented an emotional Charlie Ng Ping, chairman of the Chinese Association of Seychelles and the main organiser, before adding:

“The Chengdu Artistic Group has given an excellent breathtaking acrobatics show. We have seen face changing opera dance and splendid colourful dancing by charming ladies.”

The song, music, dances and acrobatic show by the renowned and much travelled troupe from the western Chinese city of Chengdu was in fact the festival’s last activity. The weekend-long celebrations had started with the opening ceremony and a cultural show at the Eden Bleu Hotel on Friday, before continuing with a Chinese Bazaar at the National Cultural Centre the following day. This is how the chairman of the Chinese Association of Seychelles has described those two activities:

“We had the opening ceremony with some fantastic performance from Shunde and Chengdu Artistic groups. The event was attended by President (James) Michel and many government ministers; a sign of good co-operation between Seychelles and China. The Chinese Bazaar at the Cultural Centre was successful since we did not expect so big a crowd. There was a display of souvenirs, sheep pendants and many made in China products. The food stalls selling traditional Chinese food sold out their food very fast and most stalls were empty in the afternoon,” he proudly commented.

In spite of the feeling of success, Mr Ping said that on the whole there is still room for improvement.

He added that the organising committee will work on the minor weaknesses for next year when the Chinese Pagoda and Chinese Cultural Centre may be ready to stage some of the activities.

He also announced that sports competitions may also be included on next year’s programme.

“It will be good if we can offer activities where the public can attend. In addition to a cultural group, the Chinese embassy will try to bring some Chinese athletes to compete against Seychellois opponents. It all depends on the funding from the government of China which is our main contributor in staging this cultural event,” Mr Ping said.  

In order to raise funds for the completion of the Pagoda and part of next year’s Seychelles-China day festivities, a lottery will be launched soon with a Suzuki car as star prize.