HARARE, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Scores of Zimbabweans joined the Chinese community on Friday to celebrate the upcoming Lantern Festival, expressing appreciation for Chinese culture and strengthened people-to-people ties between the two countries.

The event, held in the Chinese Embassy in Zimbabwe, featured various traditional Chinese cultural activities, including calligraphy, paper cutting, and dumpling-making.

Many attendees told Xinhua that the event brought together different cultures, the spirit of oneness and shared humanity.

Vheneka Magazi, 23, who holds a degree in Chinese, said he sought to achieve a deeper understanding and appreciation of how the Zimbabwean and Chinese cultural contexts can intersect.

Magazi said the convergence of cultures during the Lantern Festival also enhances relations between Zimbabwe and China by showcasing multiple aspects of Chinese culture.

"It is easy to say that these customs are different and that these cultural contexts are different, but there are efforts and attempts to get us involved. For instance, like this year, it is the Year of the Horse, which is meant to represent hard work, prosperity as well as tenacity and persistence," he said.

Charlotte Muziri, who works with the Chinese medical team at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, said she was happy to be celebrating the Lantern Festival with the Chinese community.

"The Lantern Festival means that we are all coming together as one to celebrate each other, and to celebrate each other's humanity as people trying to achieve the same goal and the same agenda," she said.

Muziri added that her presence at the celebrations was also a way to show appreciation to the Chinese medical team in Zimbabwe for offering free medical services to Zimbabweans, including her father, who suffered a stroke.

The Lantern Festival, which falls on March 3 this year, is traditionally celebrated with lantern displays and sweet rice dumplings, symbolizing reunion and harmony. ■