“Peachwood Charms for Spring Festival Celebration - Exhibition of Lunar New Year Traditions of the Beijing and Shanghai Municipalities” at the Chun Chou Tong Pavilion in Lou Lim Ieoc Garden
The Year of the Monkey is approaching and more than twenty cultural facilities under the Cultural Affairs Bureau will remain open from the first to the third days of the Chinese Lunar New Year (8 to 10 February), offering a series of activities to celebrate the Year of the Monkey to both residents and tourists, expressing its best wishes for the success to Macao’s cultural development in the coming year. The cultural facilities that will remain open during Chinese Lunar New Year include the Mandarin’s House, the Lou Kau Mansion, General Ye Ting’s House, the Macao Museum of Art, the Macao Handover Gifts Museum, the Macao Museum, the Heritage Exhibition of a Traditional Pawnshop Business, the Taipa Houses-Museum, the Museum of Taipa and Coloane, the Dom Pedro V Theatre, the Na Tcha Exhibition Room, the Woodcraft Works of Master Lu Ban Exhibition Room, the Patane Night Watch House, the Kun Iam Ecumenical Centre, the Museum of Sacred Art and Crypt, the Guia Fortress Chapel, the Guia Fortress and Information Centre, the Mount Fortress Corridor, the Macao Tea Culture House, the Tap Seac Gallery, the Old Court Building, the IACM Temporary Exhibitions Gallery, the Chun Chou Tong Pavilion and Iong Sam Tong Pavilion in Lou Lim Ieoc Garden, and the Guia Hill Underground Galleries (Group A). The Jao Tsung-I Academy will be closed on the first day of Chinese Lunar New Year (8 February) and will be open from 9 February. During the Chinese Lunar New Year, the Mandarin’s House will organise lion dance performances as well as calligraphy activities, while the Lou Kau Mansion will host Chinese music performances and provide several festive seals for visitors to create New Year’s couplets. General Ye Ting’s House will organize a total of four sessions of the “New Year Crafts Workshop” on 6 and 7 February, at 11am and 3pm, in which participants will learn to make festive decorations and ornaments. Participants are required to bring along a minimum of 20 red packets as base material for the workshop. Reservation is on a first come, first served basis; interested parties can make reservation before 5 February through tel. 2896 8820 during office hours. Reservations are limited to two participants per person per session. As part of the “Let's Celebrate the Lunar New Year of the Monkey” series of activities, the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau, the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the Macao Government Tourist Office co-organize a series of performances by “Shanghai Folk Arts Troupe” between 7 and 10 February, at different hours and locations in Macao and Taipa, colouring this festive period. The Chun Chou Tong Pavilion in Lou Lim Ieoc Garden is now hosting the “Peachwood Charms for Spring Festival Celebration - Exhibition of Lunar New Year Traditions of the Beijing and Shanghai Municipalities”, which features different objects from Beijing and Shanghai related to the Chinese Lunar New Year. The Jao Tsung-I Academy organizes “The Charms of Flowers – Exhibition of Traditional Chinese Flower Arrangements”, which features assorted seasonal natural flowers exquisitely arranged in six types of traditional Chinese containers. The Academy also organises calligraphy activities with traditional calligraphy utensils and seals designed by Professor Jao Tsung-I, allowing visitors to create their own traditional New Year’s couplets. The Macao Museum of Art (MAM) is currently holding several exhibitions, including “The Magnificent Palace – Imperial Architecture of the Forbidden City”, “One Century of Austrian Art 1860-1960” and the “2nd Macao Printmaking Triennial”. Besides, MAM offers a special-themed guided tour: “The Magnificent Palace” from 8 to 10 February, at 3pm; and the “MAM Essentials” guided tour at 4:15pm. During Chinese Lunar New Year (8 to 10 February), admission to the MAM, the Taipa Houses-Museum and the Museum of Taipa and Coloane is free, and admission to the Macao Museum is also free to Macao residents upon presentation of the Macao Resident Identity card or Student Card. The Macao Public Libraries and the Archives of Macao will be closed for 3 days (8 to 10 February) during the Chinese Lunar New Year; while the Mobile Library will open on 12 February. Admission to the above activities, exhibitions and performances is free. For more information on the above-mentioned activities, please call the Cultural Affairs Bureau through tel. 8399 6699 during office hours or visit IC’s webpage at www.icm.gov.mo.
