CAPE TOWN, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- An annual Chinese New Year temple fair was held in South Africa's legislative capital of Cape Town on Saturday, offering local residents a vibrant feast of Chinese culture and cuisine while highlighting cultural exchange and integration between the Chinese and South African peoples.

The event kicked off in the morning at Central Park in Century City, drawing thousands of visitors. Booths showcasing traditional Chinese medicine, tea art, calligraphy and paper-cutting proved especially popular, with many locals eager to participate and experience Chinese traditions firsthand.

Food stalls selling dumplings, liangpi, pan-fried buns and roujiamo saw long queues, at times struggling to meet demand. Meanwhile, dragon and lion dances, live band performances and group fitness shows drew repeated rounds of applause, pushing the festive atmosphere to a climax and bringing a touch of Chinese New Year spirit to Cape Town's summer.

Notably, the dragon dance troupe was made up entirely of local South Africans. Among them was 27-year-old Sinazo Mxeli, who has practiced dragon dancing for three years and participates in the temple fair annually. The group underwent two weeks of special training ahead of this year's performance.

"I do enjoy doing it. It's very fun," said Mxeli. "The more we do it, the more we get to understand it."

Speaking about the Spring Festival and temple fair, Mxeli said, "South Africa is rare to have festivals like this," adding that she loves the food, the cool drinks and also the dragon dance at the temple fair.

"Events like this ... will help people to get to know, get to taste and get to feel how it feels," she said. "They're going to get to learn that we are all the same people, it doesn't matter where we come from. But we all have the same (humanity), even though we believe in different things and do things differently, but the more they come, the more they're going to understand and to get to know the cultures that we all have."

For 15-year-old local high school student Esona Tomsana, this year's temple fair was her first visit.

"The reason why I'm here today is because I love the Chinese culture," she said. "The Chinese food is very, very delicious. I do wanna taste it again and I love everyone here. They are so nice."

Tomsana has been learning Chinese for two years. She said Chinese and South African cultures share many similarities.

"I would say they're very similar since both cultures are very bright, colorful, and everyone is like very welcoming," she said. "More and more people would love to learn Chinese and would love to go to China."

Tomsana told Xinhua that she plans to visit China next year and is particularly interested in exploring Chinese temples, history and ancient emperors.

"I really love it because I love that they are all willing to learn each other's cultures and come together as one big culture and one big family. I really love it," she added, noting that cultural events like the temple fair help promote exchanges between the two peoples.

Her schoolmate, Awethu Malusi, who has studied Chinese for three years, also attended the temple fair for the first time this year. He said Chinese calligraphy is his favorite aspect of Chinese culture and plans to travel to China in June, including visits to Beijing and Zibo.

"I'm expecting lots of, you know, a modern twist with a mix of culture in the buildings. I really like Chinese architecture," he said.

Sixteen-year-old Aaron Li, who moved to South Africa with his family at the age of two, helped his parents set up a game booth at the fair. Reflecting on why he participates in the celebration, Li said, "Most of my life, I've been here. I think it is very important that I come to more of these Chinese events, because I am myself Chinese."

"These Chinese events can influence the younger generation, specifically the local Chinese population. It can influence them through the traditions, through art and music work," he said. "It's a great learning opportunity and teaches them about their traditions ... it's a good place to learn more about what they are. And they can teach more to the local population about what China is."

"So I think this is like very important and beneficial for everyone. For all Chinese people and all people to learn more about China, this is like a very good place to learn," Aaron said. "I think it helps people to understand each other through music, culture, food, and different arts."

Wu Changhong, chairperson of the "Chinese Bridge" Club in Cape Town and organizer of the event, said this marked the fourth consecutive year the group has hosted Spring Festival temple fair, providing overseas Chinese communities with opportunities to celebrate the Chinese New Year together with local people.

"In these four years, I have felt deeply that not only have our language teaching and cultural promotion efforts expanded, but economic and trade cooperation between China and South Africa, or even China and Africa, has also grown. At the same time, local people's understanding of Chinese culture has become increasingly profound," Wu said.

Wu noted that 2026 has been designated the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges. She believes that in such a special year, cultural activities like the Spring Festival temple fair will offer meaningful experiences to local communities and attract growing participation.

"If we only celebrate within a single institution or school with our own students, the reach would be limited. But when you bring it to the wider community and let local people celebrate together with us, I think that is the most genuine and practical experience for them," Wu said.

"I think this kind of New Year celebration is the best embodiment of China-Africa people-to-people exchanges, and we will organize more activities like this in the future," she concluded. ■