Cambodia gearing up for Chinese New Year celebrations

A woman chooses Lunar New Year decorations at a shop in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Feb. 5, 2016. The Chinese lunar calendar assigns an animal symbol to each year in a 12-year cycle. According to the zodiac, 2016 is the Year of the Monkey starting from Feb. 8. [Xinhua/Sovannara]

In Cambodia, plum blossom saplings are popularly used to decorate homes during the festival.

"I buy this kind of flower to decorate my house because I believe that the blossoming tree will bring fortune and happiness to my family in the New Year," said Tea Veng Srun, 59, whose family has celebrated the festival for generations.

Lok Thuor, a Cambodian lecturer of literature and culture at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, estimated that up to 60 percent of Cambodians celebrate the Chinese New Year.

"Chinese New Year is as popular as Cambodian New Year. Most Cambodians enjoy celebrating this festival by making food offerings to their ancestors," he told Xinhua.

Lok Thuor, who used to spend a year teaching at a university in China, said the image of the festival celebrations in Cambodia is the same as that in China, stemming from house decorations to items related to prayer.

"My family also observes the Chinese New Year, we have already decorated our house and bought the necessary goods we need to offer prayers to our ancestors," he said.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said Friday that Chinese New Year is broadly celebrated in Cambodia.

"Ahead of the new year, people have decorated their houses with Chinese couplets," he said during a university graduation ceremony. "Cambodia celebrates three new year festivals a year - the Universal New Year, the Chinese New Year and the Cambodian New Year."