
Students perform wushu, or Chinese kung fu, during a celebration for U.N. Chinese Language Day in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday. Multiple countries have recently held events to mark the day, offering immersive Chinese cultural experiences. U.N. Language Days, introduced in 2010, promote multilingualism and cultural diversity by ensuring the equal use of the six official U.N. languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Chinese Language Day is celebrated on April 20, around the time of Guyu (Grain Rain), the sixth of the 24 solar terms in the traditional Chinese calendar. This date honors Cangjie, the legendary figure believed to have invented Chinese characters. Xinhua |