Monday, January 14, 2008

Singapore welcomes spring with bang of Chinese New Year

Celebrate Spring at the Chinese New Year Festival in Singapore

Singapore in spring, a time of year when it warms significantly throughout the island, when Singaporeans live through longer days and shorter nights, and when even the flowers can’t help but bloom in anticipation of the forthcoming summer.


Spring, it’s no surprise that they write songs about it, and why the whole of Singapore is upbeat in welcoming the arrival of spring through the monthlong celebrations of the “Singapore Spring Festival,” or Chun Jie in Mandarin, the Chinese New Year.


Of course, it is a New Year’s celebration that is not without a touch of the local colors of Singapore. The 2008 Singapore Spring Festival is set to bring to Singapore streets the traditional Chinese New Year festivities of lion dances, gigantic floats of Chinese mythology characters, and daily lineups of cultural presentations.


Easiest way for Singapore visitors to follow the track of the Chinese New Year festivities is through the island-nation’s MRT system, where cultural centers like The Esplanade and Marina Bay are accessible, and where Singapore hotels and room providers sit most conveniently near.


The Bugis district in Singapore is one of the major tourist hubs in the island that is oft-visited due to its accessibility and convenience. The district has its own MRT station in Bugis, a string of cheap and chic hotels in Singapore, and a wide variety of island attractions.


For a Singapore hotel in Bugis, there is the Singapore Tourism Board-decorated hotel of the Singapore Beach Road at the junction of Liang Seah St. and Beach Road. Designed to give Singapore visitors a modern, cosy hotel room accommodation right in the heart of the Singapore CBD, the Beach Road hotel in Singapore provides a warm safe haven and at the same time hooks up hotel guests with the Chinese New Year celebrations.


Center of the celebrations is at the Singapore Chinatown, turned festive and elaborate this spring with colorful lanterns and fireworks displays. Here, the usual Chinese goodies and more are in stock to give Singapore visitors a New Year splurge for some retail therapy.


Simultaneous Spring Festival events are likewise scheduled from Feb. 5 to 16 at the “River Hongbao” float in The Esplanade Park in Singapore, where the highly wrought Chinese myths and legends are set to come alive through the arts.


Highlight of the Chinese New Year exposition will be the Performing Arts Group of Tibet, which have been invited to Singapore in an attempt to make the 2008 Singapore Spring Festival truly unique.


Capping off the celebrations is the Chingay Parade of DreamS on Feb. 16, expected to flood the Marina Bay area in Singapore with a sea of vibrant floats, sequined customes, and psychedelic sights and sounds to put Singapore in a party mode.


For inquiries and hotel reservation requests, Singapore visitors can go to the following websites:


http://www.beachhotel.com.sg/
Singapore Beach Hotel
Beach Road cor. Liang Seah St.,
Bugis, Singapore


http://www.visitsingapore.com/cny/index.html
Chinese New Year 2008
Tourist line: 1-800-736-2000

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