People taking part in the Spring Festival celebration take a group photo in Jimingshan community, Yiwu, on Jan 13. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

A group of expats from countries such as Iraq, Pakistan, South Korea, and Yemen celebrated the upcoming Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan 22 this year, in Jimingshan community, Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang province, on Jan 13.

They tried their hands at many traditional Chinese customs, such as writing Spring Festival couplets, cutting window grilles, and making dumplings.

Under the guidance of a calligraphy teacher, they took up a brush pen to write the Chinese character "福",which means "blessing" in English, and couplets.

It is a tradition in China to display couplets and papers with the character "福" during the Spring Festival to represent one's wishes for a good year.

They also learned how to make paper-cutting works, which is used to decorate windows during the traditional Chinese festival, and make dumplings, a traditional Spring Festival food.

There are nearly 2,000 expats from more than 70 countries living in Jimingshan community. A man from Yemen with the Chinese name Aoshan has taken part in such Spring Festival celebrations in Yiwu for six years.

Aoshan said that he was impressed by Chinese folk culture, especially during traditional holidays such as the Spring Festival, which are always lively and interesting.