The Chinese New Year, also called the Spring Festival, is the most solemn and ancient traditional festival to the Chinese people, which is commonly known as “celebrating the festival”. The Spring Festival, as the name suggests, is the festival of the spring and the beginning of the Chinese lunar year. The traditional Chinese festival indicates that the spring is coming when everything on earth comes back to life and looks fresh. The Chinese people usually have family reunions and pray for fortune and peace during this most important festival. The tradition boasts a long history of more than three thousand years since the ancient time.  

China is a multi-nationality country, including the Han nationality and the other 55 minor nationalities. Despite the differences in such aspects as the language, the character, the life style and the custom, most of the nationalities celebrate the Spring Festival. A great variety of traditional functions not only bring about unlimited happiness but also numerous delicate folk artworks. The works demonstrate the folk art of the Chinese New Year, the custom culture with a long history and the rich humane connotations.

In celebration of Europalia – China 2009, the National Art Museum of China presents the folk art and custom collection by the National Art Museum of China entitled in “The Chinese New Year” comprising more than 200 artworks relevant with the topic in the Chinese folk art. Composed of the Chinese New Year picture, kite, embroidery and paper-cutting, the exhibition is divided into four parts, namely, “bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new”, “praying for fortune and peace”, “writing glorious chapters” and “creating flowers through skillful cutting”. All the artworks send forth delicate fragrance as beautiful flowers. The Belgian people is hoped to understand more about the ancient Chinese folk culture as well as the fresh appeal from the countryside.