UCAS Cultural Festival boosted up Visit Nepal 2020

Written by: Nitesh Khadka & Aruna Puri                               Edited by Pralhad Gupta

Namaste! We are from a holy birthplace of Lord Buddha and towering Mount Everest. Nepal is a beautiful neighboring country of China, linked with mountains and rivers. Though the great Himalayas mark the boundary, nevertheless, two states have thousands of years of the historical and cultural relationship between the people and rulers of two countries. Nepal tied the formal diplomatic relationship with the People's Republic of China in 1955. The government of Nepal has aimed to attract more than two million tourists in 2020, disseminating the extraordinary nature, culture, and heritage of Nepal through a worldwide campaign— “Visit Nepal 2020”.

On the auspicious occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, International Cultural Festival of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), 2019 was organized in Yanqihu Campus, Beijing, to explore the diversity among all the international students from over sixty nations worldwide. As usual this year among hundreds of students in UCAS, Nepalese students actively participated in the cultural festival with a stunning Nepal booth among the other 33 stalls promulgating the diverse culture, spectacular natural scenes, and heritage sites of Nepal. Nepalese students were dressed up in their national and different cultural costumes signifying Nepal as unity in diversity. The Nepal’s booth was decorated with numerous pictures, handicrafts, traditional Nepali clothes, typical Nepali paper made diary, puppets of Newari culture (Maicha and Boucha), portraits and statues displaying eye-catching natural scenery, snowcapped mountains, major festivals, the living goddess Kumari, and the various renowned Hindu temples and Buddha Stupas listed under world heritage sites. The cultural festival has provided a platform to make public Nepal as ‘Birthplace of Lord Buddha’ and ‘Land of Mount Everest (Sagarmatha/Qomolongma)’ among different nationalities studying at UCAS. The unique and peculiar triangular-shaped national flag of Nepal attracted the visitors. Visitors had a great chance to mingle and understand the culture of Nepal, and we offered 'tika' to them. 'Tika' is a red mark worn in the center of the forehead between the eyebrows, which symbolizes the victory upon evil in the cultural festivals of Nepal. Nepal always welcomes its guests as a symbol of god (Atithi Devo bhava: Slogan from Sanskrit). Team Nepal served typical Nepalese traditional food, such as Selroti and pickle made from fresh vegetables with little spicy to the visitors. The visitors were requested to visit or advertise Nepal for its tourism. A group of four beautiful Nepalese girls dressed up in national costumes stunned the audience. It left them in awe moments by displaying outstanding dance performance. They gave a continuous solo performance under the fusion of three different Nepali songs, one being 'Tamang Selo,' a song from indigenous people of mountainous Nepal.

Here is the name list of some of the national heritage landmarks and iconic places in Nepal for tourists. The background screen displayed these iconic landmarks.

  • Pokhara, the heavenly and naturally vibrant city
  • Must-to-visit national parks with a variety of wildlife and tourist adventures
  • Namche Bazaar, a gateway to Mt. Everest's base camp
  • Spectacular lakes such as "Fewa Lake."
  • Pashupatinath, and Boudhanath-The pilgrimage for Hindus and Buddhists
  • Bhaktapur Durbar Square-world heritage site

The 2019 UCAS cultural festival is significantly aimed to boost up the Visit Nepal 2020, by promoting Nepal as a preferred travel destination among both Chinese and international nationalities. Also, the 2019 UCAS cultural festival indirectly supported the vow of Rt. Hon. President Xi Jinping, who has agreed to boost up Nepal’s visit year in his recent state visit to Nepal by encouraging more Chinese people to visit.

~Nepalese cultural dance performance

~Nepalese cultural dance performance

~Nepalese cultural dance show with the national flag


~Nepalese students at UCAS (Group Photo)

Jai Nepal!

Authors: Nitesh Khadka, Aruna Puri

Photographer(s): Sujan Khadka, Kalpana Hamal, Rehman Butt

Editor: Pralhad Gupta

Supported by: International College, UCAS

 

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