Chinese in New York gathered at the First Chinese New Year Gala in News York on Saturday night to celebrate the traditional Chinese Spring Festival.

Singer Wang Yuqing (R, front) and Zhan Anna perform at the New York 2011 Chinese New Year Gala in Flushing, New York, the United States, Jan. 22, 2011. Chinese Americans gathered on Saturday in China Town in New York to celebrate the Chinese Spring Festival which falls on Feb. 3, 2011 this year.

"The Spring Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday, joyfully celebrated by all the Chinese, home and abroad," Peng Keyu, the Consul General of the People's Republic of China in New York, said at the opening. "I believe that the gala will not only enrich the community life and build stronger friendship among the people, but also help promote Chinese culture and expand its influence."

The gala was opened in the song of "Great China." Artists from China and the United States gave splendid performances. Every song, every piece of music and dance, from the Song of the Yangtze River to the Beijing Opera, to the Chinese talkshow "Xiangsheng," to the violin performance of "The Butterfly Lovers," showed one side of Chinese culture, all together painting a colorful China.

The song of "Dreaming of South China" sung by the 11-year old Chinese American Emily Li aroused all people's memories of the motherland, although far away still in the deep heart.

Emily, born in New Jersey and loves singing, said, she hoped to sing in China one day in the future. "Because it is my hometown."

Grace Meng, the Assemblywoman of New York State, said the gala was greatly appreciated by the New York Chinese community, and it was a good opportunity to show the second generation of Chinese Americans like Emily how China is like.

Hu Jie, the organizer, told Xinhua, "I wish, all the excellent performances could present an image of China to the audience, including Chinese and local Americans, showing them the Chinese people are nice and Chinese culture is amazing."

This wish seemed to be realized according to Howard B. Ross, an American lawyer. "Although I can not understand the lines of the Beijing Opera, but I love it." He admired the Chinese music, saying "music is universal, I enjoyed the show very much."

This was the first time for Chinese in New York to come together at a lunar New Year Gala thanks to the organizing of the associations of Beijing, Tianjin, Henan, Shandong and Shanghai in United States.