Doha, 2 November 2016: The highly anticipated Chinese Festival in Qatar has opened at the Museum of Islamic Art Park today, and will run from 2 – 5 November 2016. The festival celebrates the rich and varied culture of China in a weekend of exciting events for all the family to enjoy.

This year’s festival is a key part of the Qatar China 2016 Year of Culture, presented by Qatar Museums under the leadership of its Chairperson, H.E. Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and in partnership with the Ministry of Culture of China and the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture.

Mohammed Al Othman, Public and International Relations Director at Qatar Museums said:

“We are very excited to host this dynamic festival that promotes an understanding, celebration and appreciation of Chinese culture, traditions and people, in Qatar. We hope to draw thousands of visitors to the festival over the coming days to experience this unique event, which reflects the history and heritage of China. As the Qatar China Year of Culture draws to an end this December, we hope that visitors will take this opportunity to experience and engage with Chinese culture right here in Doha.”

Must see attractions

If you’re visiting the festival over the next few days here’s where you should go:

The Entertainment Zone: includes musical performances, traditional dances, and calligraphy demonstrations.

The Exhibition Zone: showcases a stunning photography exhibition which presents the work of four Chinese and two Qatari photographers, who travelled to each other’s countries on a two-week expedition to understand and visually communicate a way of life different from their own.

The Bazaar: includes a variety of arts and crafts activities including woodblock printing, rice sculpture and kite making workshops, and a puppet show. There's also a pathway adorned with faux cherry blossom trees, which makes for a beautiful picture.

The Food Zone: A number of different restaurants and hotels have opened up stalls at the festival. Our personal favorites were the W Hotel’s Sesame Chicken Wings and Shangri-La’s Special Fries. However we did wish there were more food booths that provided or served more “authentic” Chinese food, similar to home-cooked or street style food.

The Kids Zone: For people with children, this is great area to take your kids so they can enjoy and play on bouncy castles and more!

Other Qatar-China joint programs and events

The Qatar China 2016 Year of Culture is part of the landmark ‘Years of Culture’ initiative, designed to deepen understanding between nations and their people through mutual exchanges of arts, culture, heritage and sport. The Qatar China 2016 Year of Culture, which will come to an end this December, has been a great success to date with numerous exhibitions and activities held in both Qatar and China. As part of this year’s program, QM presented ‘What About the Art: Contemporary Art from China’, an exhibition of 15 contemporary Chinese artists curated by internationally acclaimed New York based Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang; ‘Silks from the Silk Road – Chinese Silk Art’, an exhibition that was on show in the QM Gallery Katara; the Treasures of China exhibition, which is currently on show at the Museum of Islamic Art and Pearls: Treasures from the Seas and the Rivers, an exhibition organized jointly by Qatar Museums and the National Museum of China, currently on show at the National Museum of China in Beijing.

The bilateral Years of Culture initiative was launched under the guidance of HE Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani in 2012. Since it began, the program has included Qatar Japan 2012, Qatar UK 2013, Qatar Brazil 2014, Qatar Turkey 2015 and now Qatar China 2016. Many events have attracted significant engagement from the public, with 28,000 people attending the Brazil Festival in Doha in 2014, and 40,000 the Turkey Festival in Doha in 2015.

Opening hours for the Chinese festival are:

2^nd November: 5pm to 10pm
3^rd November: 2pm to 10pm
4^th November: 2pm to 10pm
5^th November: 10am to 10pm

Qatar Airways is the official airline sponsor of the Years of Culture initiative, while the Shangri-La Hotel group is the official hospitality sponsor.

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AngelPolacco

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