NEW YORK, Feb. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 25^th Lunar New Year Parade and Festival was staged on Sunday in Manhattan, New York. The head float, themed with "Amazing Cangzhou, Ancient Grand Canal City," has brought a lively and extraordinary Chinese cultural experience to New York, according to the organizer Better Chinatown USA. 

Huang Ping, the Consul General of People's Republic in New York, delivered a speech at the event, and wishing people a happy and prosperous year of rabbit. 

New York, the seaport of the Hudson River, is the commercial and financial center of the United States. Cangzhou in North China's Hebei Province, is famous for the Grand Canal. "As the float of Cangzhou joined the parade, just as the Millennium Grand Canal meets the Hudson River, the eastern and western cultures play a very harmonious melody, which is wonderful", said Steven Tin, chairman of Better Chinatown USA.

The "Amazing Cangzhou, Ancient Canal City" theme float, with more than 10 meters of length, is the one and only float with a 3D modelling design in this year's New York's Lunar New Year Parade and became the spotlight of the whole parade immediately. 

With the bright and bold colors applied, "China Red" is the theme color, golden and beaming. The main body of the float is a steady and high-spirited ship, representing the natural advantages and pioneering spirit of Cangzhou, the "Pearl of Bohai Sea and Fortress of Beijing." The surging waves are the epitome of the Grand Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the world's longest canal or artificial river. The Grand Canal has provided Cangzhou with auspicious natural resources and spiritual wealth for more than 1500 years. 

The float shows a different kind of ancient charm under the reflection of eastern traditional elements such as plum blossoms, lanterns, gold ingots and folding fans, representing happiness, reunion, wealth and culture. A Cangzhou iron lion, standing majestically at the float front, symbolizes the development spirit of Cangzhou. A snow-white rabbit, holding a red lantern, stands at the stern. It invites the whole world: 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit. Welcome to Cangzhou, China.

The Lunar New Year float parade lasts 2 hours, with more than 20 floats and 60 vehicles in the float parade this year, with 30,000 participants and over 100,000 of audiences.