TEHRAN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- With China set to embrace the start of the Lunar New Year, mixed Chinese-Iranian families and Chinese nationals in Iran are excited to celebrate the Spring Festival.

Many cheerful Chinese nationals gathered at China's Embassy in the Iranian capital Tehran days ago for an early celebration of the upcoming Year of the Snake, which will start on Jan. 29.

Individuals from mixed Chinese-Iranian families also attended the event, which featured musical performances and a joyous atmosphere. All were excited to celebrate the Spring Festival, recently inscribed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December last year.

Shahin Khodabandeh, 28, who has a Chinese mother and an Iranian father, told Xinhua that with the new year's arrival, he felt that everything was renewing.

"I feel a sense of greater solidarity with and love for my family members and friends, as well as immense happiness and liveliness. It is as if a new period of my life is starting with hopes of better things to come," said Khodabandeh.

Considering himself lucky to have the chance to celebrate the spring's arrival twice a year, as the season and new year in Iran begin in late March, Khodabandeh said, "Given that my parents have different nationalities, we normally mix the Chinese and Iranian traditions and cultures when celebrating the new year. My mother makes Chinese dishes, and we serve them along with Iranian ones."

He added that in both cultures, family members tend to gather together, with the elder ones presenting gifts to the younger individuals as a symbol of good luck, visiting relatives and friends, and simply feeling happy that a new year is going to start.

However, "I have never been able to celebrate the new year in China," Khodabandeh said with a sense of regret.

Khodabandeh, whose mother was in China to be with his grandfather for the upcoming Spring Festival, hoped that all people would be able to be with their family members when the new year arrives.

The Spring Festival includes various social practices, such as prayers for good fortune and family reunions. It also features activities organized by elders and festive public events hosted by communities.

One of the oldest customs associated with the Chinese New Year is the exchange of red envelopes containing money during the festivities, primarily gifted to children as a symbol of luck and well wishes for the upcoming year.

Firecrackers are also set off during the Spring Festival to commemorate the start of a new year and fend off bad luck in favor of good fortune. People also clean their homes, buy colorful new clothes, put up decorations and buy flowers to celebrate the arrival of spring.

Haniyeh, a 12-year-old girl also born to a Chinese mother and an Iranian father, said, "I feel great happiness and vivacity when the new year arrives."

"To celebrate the new year, we hang some paintings on the walls, prepare different dishes and exchange some gifts," she said without giving Xinhua her full name. "My Iranian relatives congratulate me and my mother on the new year's arrival."

Comparing the two cultures' New Year celebrations, she said they were almost similar, with some minor differences in terms of the traditions and the dishes served.

"However, both peoples clean their houses, buy new clothes and flowers, and visit their relatives and friends. Both the Iranian and Chinese New Year celebrations are beautiful."

"This is the first time I am spending the Spring Festival somewhere other than China, which will be a very good opportunity to celebrate the festival with my classmates," Xue Bofan, a 20-year-old Chinese student studying the Farsi language and literature at the University of Isfahan in central Iran, told Xinhua.

"This year is that of the snake, which symbolizes good luck, wealth and health," Xue said. "On the eve of this new year, my classmates and I are going to make kebabs, of course the Chinese way with lots of seasoning. We will also buy Chinese potatoes and lettuce as symbols of good luck and watch the 2025 Spring Festival gala, which is for every Chinese person around the world." Enditem

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