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Upon the invitation of Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), a team of snow-carving artists from Macau Culinary Association joined the 43rd International Snow Sculpture Contest and returned home as the second-prize winner. The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao SAR Government Dr. Alexis Tam conveys his sincerest congratulations to the Macao snow-carving team, and believes their participation has helped promoting Macao’s destination image to international visitors. This year marks the debut of MGTO in the Sapporo Snow Festival. The Office not only displayed a giant snow sculpture of the Ruins of St. Paul’s, but also rolled out a range of activities in this winter event including 3D video projection mapping, Macao Café, an exhibition of photographs by a Macao artist based in Hokkaido as well as a gratitude dinner. The Office also invited Macau Culinary Association to form a team and join the 43rd International Snow Sculpture Contest on behalf of Macao. The team members include Perry Yuan Kam Hung, Patrick Li Hing Cheung and Tam Kuong Wu. As one of the highlights in the Sapporo Snow Festival, the 43rd International Snow Sculpture Contest featured twelve teams from different countries and regions including Australia, Finland, Hawaii, Latvia, Malaysia and Macao, etc. The teams were required to carve their snow sculpture openly at 11 chome on Odori Site from 4 to 7 February. Winners were announced on the site on 8 February. The piece of artwork presented by the Macao team is known as “Golden Lotus Flower Embraced by the Dragon”. Regardless of the severe weather, the team members poured their painstaking effort day and night to create this lively snow sculpture manifesting their exquisite artistry. With their master skills and perseverance, the Macao team won the second prize in the 43rd International Snow Sculpture Contest. Secretary Tam stated that it is a true inspiration to see the Macao team come back home in the title of runner-up, especially as a new contestant in this international competition. He would like to express deepest congratulations to the team on their outstanding achievement, and believes that the contest not only fostered exchange and friendship among snow-carving artists and spectators from around the world, but also created a prime opportunity for Macao to promote its destination image to international visitors.
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