Dubai: As millions of Chinese people around the world ushered in the Chinese New Year with firecrackers and lion dances on Monday, Dubai's Chinese community did not go far behind.
They greeted the year of the Dragon in style at the iconic Burj Al Arab, which has become a popular hotel destination for many Chinese tourists for the past three years.
Revelers enjoyed two lion dances, traditionally done to ward off evil spirits. Many partook of the traditional dumplings or cooked balls of dough, a must-have in every Chinese New Year celebration.
Authentic Chinese cuisine including the Fa Gao (popularly known as the Prosperity or Lucky cake) and Yusheng (mixed salad believed to bring "good luck" for the new year) were served.
The highlight of the evening was when the Burj Al Arab's exterior ‘sail' was illuminated by a massive red dragon—approximately 150 metres in height, covering the whole ‘sail' with green and yellow laser projections.
"The Chinese community is a notable community within Dubai and the UAE. And as we cater to a large Chinese audience, we felt it is important to highlight this occasion, to celebrate this important day with them and enjoy the Chinese traditions around us," Heinrich Morio, general manager of Burj Al Arab, told Gulf News.
"The [Chinese] community has a lot of events or celebrations for this traditional Chinese New Year, it's not only in Dubai, it's worldwide. Chinese is everywhere at the moment," China Consul General to the UAE Zhan Jingbao said.
Zhan extended his greeting to the more than 200,000-strong Chinese expatriates in the country, "We wish our country, China, and also the Chinese people a better year in the Dragon year and also for them to have happiness, wealth, love and everything."
‘The most beautiful destination'
Dubai, which received "The Most Beautiful Destination" award by the China Travel Channel earlier this month, has become a popular destination for Chinese nationals since China relaxed its visa restrictions for its people in 2009.
The Travel Channel Vision Award was instituted by the Travel Channel in association with the China National Tourism Administration.
"One of the reasons [why] Chinese tourists are really interested to come here to have a visit is because there are so many luxury hotels, and also they can buy luxury products," Lucy Chuang, managing director of Dubai-based Sino Consulting Service, told Gulf News.
"The culture here in the Middle East for Chinese people is really mysterious. They are really interested in the culture here and then Dubai is a top tourist place and also it's a shopping paradise. That's the reason why they come more and more," she added.
Based on Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing figures, there was a 41 percent increase in the number of Chinese guests in Dubai hotel establishments in 2010 compared with the previous year. The number of tourism companies in China promoting tourism to Dubai went up by 33 per cent in 2010 compared with 78 companies in the year 2009.
The United Nations World Tourism Organisation has listed China as the world's top spenders in terms of international tourism with a recorded positive growth of 38 percent in 2011.
