Come and celebrate the year of the snake with a colourful and memorable Chinese New Year 2013 in Cairns...

CHINESE NEW YEAR 2013 IN CAIRNS

Cairns is all prepared to welcome thousands of visitors travelling here on China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines as well as Cathay Pacific and Jetstar. Many Chinese visitors will enjoy the top 3 things to do in Cairns, a visit to Green Island and the Great Barrier Reef is number one. Enjoy seeing the coral and colourful fish of the Reef, either by snorkelling or by glass bottom boat or submarine. There is so much to see, Big Cat Green Island cruises as well as Great Adventures Great Barrier Reef cruises and Quicksilver cruises all have daily tours to the Green Island and the Great Barrier Reef with information for Chinese visitors in Mandarin as well as all have Chinese speaking staff to ask questions of any time.

The next top thing to do is go floating with Hot Air Balloon Cairns that has daily balloon rides west of Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef. Enjoy the 360 degree views and wide open spaces of the tropical environment. Watch out to see kangaroos from your hot air balloon too. During Chinese New Year a fleet of up to 10 colourful balloons will be flying every day. Book ahead to go as Hot Air Balloon Cairns is very popular and there is fixed capacity, so don’t miss out and book instant online tickets at http://www.hotair.com.au/cairns/ or http://www.hot-air.cn/cairns/

A visit to a local Zoo or Wildlife Park is the third most popular attraction in Cairns for Chinese visitors, see crocodiles and koalas as well as many other local animals. There are lots of opportunities to take photos and purchase souvenirs at the Zoo also.
Cairns City for Chinese New Year 2013 is working to make it the biggest yet for the district with a street festival on February 9th and many other events planned for the week before and week after, Chinese New Year. The festivities of Lunar New Year mean it is one of the most popular cultural events in the district not just for the Chinese visitor but also among the local community. Dragon and lion dances and fire crackers will happen every day at most Chinese restaurants in Cairns with many red and gold (the colours of good luck and wealth) Lucky envelopes, given during celebrations.

The booming roar of Chinese drums and crash of cymbals will accompany in the colourful celebrations of the Cairns Chinese New Year 2013 Street Festival in Grafton Street, Cairns, between Spence and Shields St, on February 9th. Hot Air Balloon Cairns after a morning ballooning, will also have free transfers for drop-off to many of the locations in Cairns city offering Chinese New Year festivities. Hundreds of locals and visitors will attend and entertainment will range from traditional lion eye dotting ceremony, cultural dancers, fire crackers, martial art performances and Chinese dragon and lion displays. The night sky will also stream with colour for the inaugural fireworks at 8pm. During the Festival look out for

• Traditional Lion Dance & Drummers
• Live Snake exhibition
• Dragon Parade
• Molihua Chinese Dancers
• Chinese Food made by local families
• Children’s Activities
• Firecrackers
• China Travel Expo
• Fireworks and more

Just 5 minutes' drive from Cairns city at the Cairns Botanical Gardens there will be a CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY EXHIBITION AND WORKSHOP at the Tanks Art Centre from 4 to 24 February, 2013.open 9.30am - 4.30pm Weekdays and 10am-3pm Weekends. The Calligraphy and ink painting will be by the master of Li Shu style, Lin Min En and his Australian pupil, Ralph Knight. Lin Min En promotes Chinese traditional arts through a gallery in Shenzhen and through the many arts and calligraphy societies in Hong Kong and Southern China. Ralph Knight is a teacher of Chinese language.

The exhibition will include screenings of the local short film Chinaman Creek, in partnership with Tanks, Festivals Australia and Cairns and District Chinese Association Inc. The 15 minute film is locally written, and produced, Chinaman Creek, is a short film tableau of the life of Chinese market gardeners who settled in Far North Queensland in 1888 after the gold rush. The drama depicts a fictional response to an historical event: a remarkable union in a time of history: a romance story of a relationship bound by shared adversity and mutual collaboration to survive. Earlier in the month on Tuesday, 5th February 2013 at 11am - 12pm there will also bea book launch of Sandi Robb's book: Cairns Chinatown: A Heritage Study.

And to finish Chinese New Year 2013 celebrations in Cairns there is the Skytrans Cairns Taipan Year of the Snake Home Game which will be on Saturday, 16th February 2013 at 6:30pm at the Cairns Convention Centre which is only one or two blocks from all major Cairns accommodation. Of course, there is plenty of shopping in Cairns, for souvenirs, walk around Cairns city and see many shops run by local Cairns families, they are expert in helping you with a koala toy, some local Cairns food packages like Mangoes, Macadamias or chocolates shaped like fish!

在凯恩斯的新年

凯恩斯已经准备好来欢迎乘坐中国东方航空，中国南方航空，国泰航空公司和 Jetstar 到来的游客。许多中国游客有在凯恩斯最喜爱做三件事，第一是去绿岛和大堡礁。在哪儿能够乘坐玻璃船，潜航或乘坐潜艇去欣赏美丽的珊瑚和五颜六色的鱼。这里有好多能做的事！大猫号绿岛礁游轮公司，大冒险号，和银梭号都有中文的资料为中国游客，船上也有会说中文的服务员。第二是与热气球凯恩斯飞行，他们每天都有在凯恩斯和大堡礁西方的热气球飞行项目。享受360度的风景，和热带雨林的大地。在热气球上有时还能看见袋鼠呢。中国新年的一段时间每天都会有到十个彩色的热气球在空中飞行。向前预定因为热空气凯恩斯是非常受欢迎的，并且有固定的容量，因此不要失去机会立即预定网上票在 http://www.hotair.com.au/cairns/ 或 http://www.hot-air.cn/cairns/。当然，凯恩斯有很多卖纪念品的商店，在店里好好走走，大多数的商店都是由石标家庭负责的，他们是在帮助的您专家。店里可能有一个考拉玩具、一些本机石标食物包裹象芒果，马卡达姆坚果或者象鱼的巧克力!

在每家中国餐馆在农历新年期间，享受这里的庆祝。凯恩斯将有澳大利亚中国社区负责的农历新年街节日在Grafton街上表演，因此加入庆祝，看着城市活跃起来，显示中国狮子舞、龙舞、爆竹、音乐、武术、儿童的活动、市场开始在3点直到9点的摊位、食物和文化显示。